Resident Evil: Enigma
by alherrin
Summary: Sequel to Resident Evil: Reconstruction. Alice makes her way to Alaska in search of her friends, but what will she find? Finding new friends and even new enemies along the way, she struggles to find answers and bring an end to the nightmare that has plagued the world for the last few years.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or storyline from Resident Evil. Just the thoughts swirling around my head that Alice and Claire are perfect for each other..._

_A/N: So this is the sequel to my story Resident Evil: Reconstruction. I would highly recommend reading that one first if you haven't, as parts of this story may be slightly confusing for you without the background. All that aside, hope you enjoy :-)_

* * *

Alice's POV

The plane shuddered violently as the landing gear made contact with the rough terrain. As it slowly came to a halt, Alice pulled back the sliding canopy of the cockpit. She was immediately assailed by cold wind. Alaska.

She hadn't found the settlement she'd expected. This place was empty. There was nothing but an open field – a cemetery for abandoned aircraft and vehicles of all shapes and sizes, faded by the harsh sunlight and cold, salty ocean wind.

Where were all the people?

She found the Army deuce with no problem. Inside, Carlos's radio was still hooked up. She opened it and played back the last transmission.

_This is Arcadia, broadcasting on the emergency frequency. Location 114.08 degrees longitude, 51.08 degrees latitude. There is no infection. We offer safety, and security. Food and shelter. Repeat, no infection. There is help._

She made her way through a grove of fresh evergreens and came out on the other side to find a long strip of rocky beach. The ocean was still beautiful. Someone must have forgotten to tell it that the world was supposed to be ugly and dying now.

There was no sign of infection, but there was no sign of life either.

She walked along the beach, quite alone. On the flight over, she had dared to hope that a reunion with her friends would be possible. She'd hoped that they'd made it safely, that they'd started a new life here…that they were doing more than just surviving. She had dared to let herself feel a tiny bit of excitement at the thought of seeing _her_ again. Claire Redfield.

But Claire wasn't here. Or K-Mart. Or Carlos, Chase, Betty, Mikey. Where did they end up?

She continued walking along the beach until she found her hope again. The Umbrella helicopter was parked a few hundred yards north. She walked a bit faster, trying to contain her – _fear_ – excitement, but finally she broke into a sprint. The condition of the helo was disheartening. It was exactly as she had found it in Nevada. K-Mart and Claire's packs were still inside. The red journal rested on the floor of the cockpit. Alice picked it up and thumbed through.

Toward the end of the journal she noticed new entries made in K-Mart's small, neat handwriting. It had apparently taken them longer to reach Arcadia than it should have; the first few places Claire had landed to refuel had been empty, but they had finally found the means to make it. _In Vancouver. _

Then it hit Alice; they had stopped to find the boy…what was his name? Seth? Sam.

On the last page, K-Mart's handwriting turned sporadic and hurried.

_We are here. Arcadia. At last. Something not right…_

Alice looked at the date. Three months ago.

She took the journal back to the shoreline and sat down upon a piece of driftwood. She dug through her pack to find the small video camera she had been documenting her travels on, opening it to record.

"May 3rd. 19:30. 177 days without life." She glanced down at the journal in her hands. "What did they find here? Not a town. Nothing marked on any map. Arcadia…no such place exists. Just an empty field, and a beach."

She looked around her, scanning the vehicles that lined the field like grave markers. The only sound was the waves, steadily crashing against the rocky shoreline.

"But we all heard the transmissions. Someone sent them. Someone brought all these people here," she whispered, glancing back at the field of planes. "But why? And where did they go?"

She thumbed back through the journal. _Something not right. _"She left the journal. But why? As a message? A warning? Did she know I would come?"

She looked around her one last time. Those vehicles would have carried hundreds of people…but where did they go? "Day 177, signing off." She reached out to switch off the camera, but hesitated. "I don't know if I can do this much longer."

An overwhelming sadness took control of her and she could feel hot tears burning behind her eyes. "What if I'm the last one? What if there's no one else? No one left to watch these tapes? Is this my punishment…for letting all this happen?" She stared into the camera, all of her hope draining from her body. The silence was overwhelming. The loneliness enough to crush her.

She couldn't stay here…

* * *

She was preparing the plane for takeoff when she noticed it. A lone figure at the edge of the clearing. She shut the controls off and jumped out of the cockpit, searching the tree line. Nothing. Was it ever there?

A creaking sound from behind jolted her. She turned to find a cargo plane. The debark door swinging stiffly on its rusted hinges. She approached the plane slowly, carefully. She pulled her shotgun from its holster and readied it. She glanced inside to find emptiness. "What am I doing?" she asked herself quietly, fingering the gun's trigger.

She exhaled in a loud sigh, turning away and heading back toward her plane when out of nowhere she was assaulted by dirty hands and muscled arms. She was knocked off her feet and the creature was on top of her instantly. This was no stiff, slowly moving infected creature. This was something wild. Something strong. Attacking her in an outburst of jagged nails and sharp teeth. A glint of light flashing off metal pulled Alice's attention to the knife in the creature's hand.

Alice kicked the thing hard sending it sailing into the plane. It slid to the ground unconscious. She picked up her gun and slowly approached the prone figure. Carefully, she turned the creature over with her boot. When the unruly mane of hair parted, Alice gasped. "Claire," she whispered, shocked.

Her eyes were drawn immediately to the redhead's chest. A mechanical scarab was attached, sharp points of its legs boring into Claire's flesh. Alice noticed a blue liquid sloshing about in the center of the scarab. _Drugs? Poison?_

She pulled the device from Claire's chest and shuddered at the scent of the redhead's blood – slightly tainted by the drugs, but still _so strong _– as it trickled down her chest in six distinct paths. Claire started to stir, but Alice didn't want to run the risk of hurting her should the redhead still be hostile, so she carried her over to her plane and tied the redhead to the landing gear.

Alice sat by the fire, heating a can of stew. She had removed Claire and K-Mart's packs from the helicopter and brought them both over to her small camp. Her eyes were steady on the redhead, willing her to wake. The older woman finally took in Claire's condition. Dried blood and dirt was caked on her beautiful face. Her hair was so matted and greasy it almost looked like a dull brown color instead of its normal vibrant red. Her clothes were rags, falling open and revealing more of her body than they were covering.

Alice could easily see the angry puncture wounds from the device. She stared at them for a long while. When she finally looked back at Claire's face, brilliant blue eyes were studying her.

"Glad to see you're okay," she whispered. She motioned toward the younger woman's chest. "Sorry about that, but I had to get this thing off of you." She held up the device that she had wrenched off of Claire's chest earlier. "Do you know what this is? Who did this to you?"

Claire's cautious eyes regarded her with discontent, but the redhead remained silent.

"You don't even know who I am do you?" The realization caused something inside of her to break loose. Whatever that blue liquid was inside of the device, it had wiped Claire's memory clean. What if Claire never remembered who she was? What they'd had?

"Well, seeing as you already hate me…" She picked up a bucket she had filled with cold, salty water from the ocean and dumped it over Claire's head. The redhead thrashed around like a fish on the shore. She arched her body toward Alice, yanking hard on the bindings around her wrists. Alice noticed her fingernails then. "Someone needs a manicure," she taunted. "But first, we really need to get you cleaned up."

She brought out the jet boiler from Claire's pack and began to heat some water. When the bucket was refilled with warm water, she began to gently wipe away the blood and dirt from Claire's face. She could see the internal struggle in the redhead's eyes. Claire didn't want Alice touching her, but the warm water must have felt amazing on her skin.

She shampooed Claire's hair, letting the soap soak into the dirty mess for a few minutes before pouring warm water over her head and watching the dirt wash away. When the younger woman's hair and face were cleaned, Alice regarded the rest of her body. She definitely needed to clean the wounds on her chest before they could get infected, but she didn't want to make the woman turn hostile again.

She dug through Claire's pack and found a towel and a few extra sets of clothes. She smiled at the memory of K-Mart picking out the red vest and holding it up to Claire. "_Hawt_," the young blonde had teased the redhead.

She pulled out the knife that Claire had attacked her with earlier. "I'm just going to hang onto this for a while," she said coolly. But she took the knife and slowly began to cut away Claire's shirt.

The redhead's eyes were hard as she glared at Alice, but she didn't speak, and she didn't struggle. Once she had removed the shirt, she slid the knife under Claire's bra and cut through releasing the redhead's breasts. Alice saw Claire's face shift from anger to fear in a fraction of a second. "Hey," she said softly. "I'm not going to hurt you. I promise. I just want to get this cleaned so it doesn't get infected."

She poured out the dirty water and filled the bucket with fresh warm water. She ran the warm rag over Claire's neck and shoulders. She cleaned the woman's arms and hands. Finally, she gingerly traced the rag over the redhead's chest. She took extra care of the six puncture wounds, making sure all of the dirt and grime was washed away.

As she focused on her task, she couldn't help but take in the sight of Claire's small, perky breasts. She could remember what they felt like in her hands. She could remember the feel of those dusky pink nipples in her mouth, against her tongue. Without thinking, she dragged the rag downward and over a breast. Claire inhaled sharply, back arching toward Alice.

Her eyes regarded Alice curiously for a few moments before Alice continued washing her breasts. The older woman watched as Claire's eyes fluttered shut and she tucked her bottom lip in between her teeth. Alice wanted to take them in her hands. To knead and massage them. To tweak and tug on those perfect nipples, but she didn't spend more time than she needed cleaning the woman. She didn't want to make the redhead uncomfortable. She cleaned her stomach and back, and cut away her cargo pants, washing her legs and feet. Very quickly, she ran the rag between the redhead's legs and Claire shut her eyes tightly and turned her face away in shame.

She carefully unhooked Claire's bindings from the landing gear. "I'm going to get you dressed and clip those nails, but one wrong move, and I'll have you back in this position in a heartbeat. Understand?"

Claire nodded. Some of the hostility had faded from the redhead's eyes during her bath, but her face was still a guarded mask of uncertainty.

Alice pulled the redhead to a standing position and slid her pants on. Carefully, she untied her wrists, pulling on the shirt and vest. Upon seeing the red vest, Claire's face looked almost as if she were remembering something. Alice raised a dark brow, but the younger woman shook her head.

Once she was dressed, Alice took the redhead's hand in her own and carefully began shaving away the jagged fingernails with her tactical knife. She wasn't going to win any nail technician awards any time soon, but at least the redhead could close her fists without puncturing her own palms now.

Once she was finished, she tied Claire's hands back to the landing gear. The younger woman didn't struggle; she let Alice bind her easily. "It's just insurance," Alice explained. "I haven't slept in a few days, I need to be able to rest without worrying that you'll attack me…or leave me."

Claire's eyebrows drew together in question at the last part of Alice's statement, but the older woman didn't elaborate. "When's the last time you've eaten anything? Do you remember?"

Claire's face shifted into confusion. She shook her head, then her eyes went to the can sitting by the fire. Alice smiled. She knelt down in front of the redhead and held a spoonful of stew up to her lips. Claire studied her face for a few seconds before opening her mouth and accepting the food. Her eyes closed at the taste, but opened quickly when Alice pressed another spoonful to her lips. She fed the entire can to Claire, spoonful by spoonful. The redhead looked quite satisfied afterward, but also, very tired.

"I know it's going to be uncomfortable tonight, but you'll be able to sleep in the plane tomorrow." She wrapped the redhead in a blanket, and then laid another on top of her legs, tucking it in so that the wind couldn't get through. She stared into Claire's eyes for a long while before she lay down on the sleeping bag by the fire and drifted to sleep.

* * *

_A/N: Well, let me know what you think so far. This is going to take a few twists and turns before we reach the end. ;-)_


	2. Chapter 2

_Review Responses: At the end._

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or storyline from Resident Evil. Just the thoughts swirling around my head that Alice and Claire are perfect for each other..._

* * *

Claire's POV

She had fallen asleep not long after the woman had. When she'd woken, she'd felt the discomfort in her arms and shoulders before she had ever even opened her eyes. She stretched her neck to the side and heard the cracks and pops of bones and cartilage shifting. She arched her back. More cracking and popping.

She looked up to find the strange woman's eyes on her. Searching her. Reading her. Those blue-green eyes were so _knowing_. It frustrated Claire beyond reason.

The woman was staring at her chest again. What was up with this chick? She followed her gaze, noticing the six spots of blood seeping through her shirt. She realized that the puncture wounds were still bleeding. Her face filled with worry when she looked back at Alice.

The older woman swallowed audibly. "I can – I can fix that for you, if you want, but – you have to keep a _very_ open mind about it."

Claire narrowed her eyes at the woman. She didn't want to trust her, but everything inside of her told her that this woman wouldn't hurt her. She nodded, and then looked up to where her hands were bound to the landing gear. She rolled her neck painfully again and looked back at the woman with a questioning glance.

Alice smiled. "Yeah, sorry." She unhooked Claire's arms and brought them down in front of the redhead. Claire's shoulders protested at the movement and she rolled them, loosening the muscles. Once her hands were free, they immediately went to her neck, fingers digging into the sore muscles, but soon, the woman's slender fingers were pushing hers out of the way.

Her hands were amazingly strong and Claire felt the knots and stiffness fading away within seconds. She moaned softly, then berated herself, tightening her jaw to make sure no other sounds escaped. When the woman had worked her muscles for a few minutes, she pulled back. "Do you want me to make this stop bleeding?"

Claire nodded, and let the woman remove her vest and shirt. Blue-green eyes were drilling into her own. It was almost as if the woman were apologizing to her for something.

She was taken completely off guard when the dark-haired woman leaned forward and pressed her lips against one of the puncture wounds. Before she could even register what was happening, the woman was lapping the blood from the cut, running her tongue across it again and again. Claire gasped.

The feeling of this woman's tongue against her was amazing, but she snapped back to her senses and shoved the brunette away with force. She stumbled back, almost losing her footing, but as she looked down at her chest, she noticed that the wound had already stopped bleeding and was healing right before her eyes.

Claire jumped back, guarded, disbelieving eyes locking on Alice.

A flash of hurt crossed the woman's face, before she locked it beneath a steel mask of passivity. "My name is Alice. I'm not human. We met in the desert, eighteen months ago. You're name is Claire. Claire Redfield."

Claire narrowed her eyes at the woman. The name didn't sound familiar to her, but the look of sincerity on the woman's – _Alice's_ – face made the redhead believe her. She raised an eyebrow in question.

Alice's face saddened. "I used to be human, but they – Umbrella – turned me into a bioweapon. They wanted to use me, but I rebelled against them. Do you remember anything? The outbreak? The virus? The convoy? K-Mart?"

Claire shook her head. None of these things sparked any recognition in her. It was maddening. Alice nodded toward her still bleeding chest. "Do you want me to finish?"

Claire looked down, blushing at the memory from a few moments ago. The feeling of this woman's lips on her skin. It made her body tingle. She nodded, not really trusting her voice.

Alice smirked at her, making the redhead wonder if the woman could see her blush, but the brunette just pulled Claire forward and dipped her head toward the puncture wounds.

Heat bloomed inside of Claire once again as Alice's tongue traced over the second cut. It was just below her right collarbone. The older woman continued down until she was at the last two puncture wounds. Only the top halves the cuts were displayed, the bottom half hid beneath the fabric of her bra.

Calloused hands were on her shoulders then, pushing the straps of the bra down her arms until the loosened cups exposed her breasts. Alice leaned in once again, but instead of going straight to the cut, the older woman's tongue dipped down and caught the trail of blood that had run down the curve of Claire's breast.

The heat pooled in her center as Alice dragged her tongue over the sensitive skin before lapping at the puncture wound and closing the gash. She treated the final cut just the same.

When Alice finally pulled up the straps of her bra and handed her a new shirt and her vest back, Claire's body was humming. The older woman was smirking at her, but Claire noticed a very familiar look in her eyes. _Desire._

* * *

They'd been in the air for just over an hour when Claire noticed Alice pulling out a small video recorder. "May 4th. 08:00 hours. Plotting a course to Prince Rupert and British Columbia, I'll pass over Vancouver, then drop down to Seattle."

Claire realized Alice was keeping a video flight log and the redhead grinned, a flash of memory coming back from a long time ago, a young man, mid to late twenties, teaching her about flight logs as she sat in the cockpit of a small commercial helicopter. She grasped at the memory but it slid through her fingers.

"After that, there's San Francisco and the rest of the Western Seaboard." She paused. "My passenger still remains as talkative as ever."

Claire felt her temper flair at the older woman's statement. She had no justification for what she was feeling. If anything, Alice's voice had been playful, but still her blood ran hot as she stared daggers into the back of Alice's head.

She was sitting in the back of the cockpit. It probably used to be a comfortable seat, but Alice had two extra fuel reserves on either side of her and she was lodged in between them. She rested her head against one of the tanks and closed her eyes. The binds holding her wrists together were starting to chafe, but the older woman had insisted on retying her before they got on the plane.

* * *

When she woke the sun was shining low in the sky. She scanned the ground trying to get a picture of where they were. It didn't take long. In the distance was a suspension bridge; empty cars lined the bridge, unmoving. She could see people walking along the bridge, seemingly with no purpose. They looked – disturbing.

The image gave her chills, though she didn't know why. Not until she took in the rest of the scene. The bridge was in fact, the Golden Gate Bridge. She looked around at San Francisco, gasping. The city was devastated. Entire buildings had burned into rubble, some remains still smoldering. Thick black smoke rose in clouds from residential and industrial fires.

"My god," she whispered.

Alice cocked her head to the side, glancing back at Claire. "So she _does_ have vocal chords. I was beginning to wonder."

Claire glared at the woman's profile. Then rested her head back against the fuel reserves. She was still so tired. She wanted to know what was going on, but she couldn't force herself to talk to this woman, this – _thing_. She closed her eyes and drifted off again.

When she woke a second time, it was to the landing gear making contact with a long stretch of deserted highway. Feeling a bit more rested, and much less hostile, she cleared her throat. "Where are we?"

Alice remained silent until the plane came to a halt. "About 200 miles east of Los Angeles. I was hoping to make it past there tonight, but I made a detour to fly over Needles for fuel. I figured that'd be our safest best, less population. And well, I'm really beat now. We'll gas up in the morning." She pulled the canopy open and stepped down onto the wing, offering Claire her hand.

Claire stared at the proffered hand for a few seconds before placing her bound ones in the older woman's and allowing Alice to help her down. She slid down the woman's body until her feet hit the ground. Alice's hands were on her hips and the two were so close that Claire could feel the woman's hot breath against her face. She took a step back, breaking the contact. Alice closed the distance again and untied the redhead's hands.

"I thought California was supposed to be warm," she said, wrapping her arms around herself. The tank top and vest were definitely not the wisest decision. She shivered.

"It gets cold here at night. This is still technically the desert." Alice smiled that shy smile then started setting up camp. "I'll build a fire."

Once the fire was built, Alice laid out the sleeping bags. "Are you hungry?"

Claire took a minute to think. She _was_ hungry. She hadn't noticed it until the older woman had mentioned it, but now she felt that dull pang in her stomach that told her she hadn't eaten in hours. She nodded. "Yes."

Alice set a can by the fire to heat up, then sat down and started sharpening her kukris.

Claire stared at the single can for a minute. "You're not going to eat?"

Alice's eyes searched her face. "I don't eat much these days." Claire watched as the woman's hand slowly dragged the sharpening stone down the blade. She didn't know exactly what about the motion she found so fascinating, but she kept her eyes trained on Alice's slender fingers. She shivered.

She crawled into the sleeping bag closest to her, when Alice's voice called out to her again. "Not that one. Take the one closest to the fire. I don't want you to freeze."

Claire looked at the other sleeping bag. "What about you? I don't want you to be uncomfortable all night either, you're the one who has to be rested in order to fly the plane tomorrow."

Alice chuckled. She sat down the blade and walked over until she was standing in front of Claire. The redhead observed her curiously for a few moments before Alice's hands reached up and cupped her face. She was immediately enveloped in the warmth of the other woman's touch. "My God. You're so warm!" Claire leaned into Alice's body without thinking. She felt the older woman's arms slide around her waist and the warmth just increased.

Claire tentatively brought her hands up to rest on Alice's hips and she pressed her face into the older woman's neck. "See?" Alice chuckled. "I don't need the fire."

Claire nodded into Alice's neck before stepping back, and crawling into the sleeping bag by the fire. Even nestled in completely with the fire at her back, it didn't have anything on the warmth of Alice's body. But after a little while, she managed to dose off to the steady sound of the sharpening stone sliding across the blade.

* * *

She woke up freezing. The fire had died down to embers during the night and she shivered violently in the sleeping bag. She hugged herself tightly, trying to stop her teeth from chattering, but to no avail. She heard Alice stir behind her, then the older woman was sliding into the sleeping bag with her. Heat cloaked around her body, instantly assuaging the chill that was in her bones.

"I didn't mean to wake you," she whispered, feeling guilty, but at the same time, glad the woman was snuggled up against her. Alice didn't answer, so she shivered one last time before settling into the warm, hard body behind her.

Sleep didn't come so easily this time. Alice's body pressed against hers was warm, yes, but also _very_ distracting. Now that she had gotten to know the older woman a bit, she couldn't help but take notice of how absolutely beautiful she was. She rolled onto her back so that she could steal a glance at the sleeping woman. Alice looked so peaceful in her sleep. It was nothing like what Claire saw during the day. The hard lines on her face had softened; she looked a good ten years younger. She was breathtaking.

Alice moaned softly in her sleep, hand reaching out, arm wrapping around Claire's waist. The redhead gasped at the heat that bloomed in her body underneath Alice's burning fingers.

Alice moaned again and rocked her hips against the redhead. _Uh oh._ The hand on her stomach started to slowly caress Claire through her tank top. The younger woman bit back a moan. Her body was coming alive under Alice's subtle touches, almost as if it knew those hands. Remembered them.

Claire thought back to the way Alice had looked at her earlier. Eyes full of compassion. Desire. Had she been intimate with this woman before? It would certainly explain why Alice had taken such an interest in her safety, and it would explain why her body was reacting the way it was. Her skin was tingling, craving Alice's touch. She bit her lip and slowly reached down to pull the hem of her tank top higher up her stomach until Alice's warm fingers were resting against her bare skin. Her eyes fluttered shut at the feeling.

Another moan from the sleeping woman and her hand slipped even higher on Claire's stomach, fingers flexing against the redhead's skin. The rough tips of the brunette's fingers were dancing along the underside of her breast and Claire fought hard to keep from trembling. She took a deep breath and pushed her breast closer to Alice's fingers. She was rewarded by Alice's warm hand cupping her fully, thumb brushing against her nipple through the fabric of her bra. She couldn't stop the small moan this time and she arched her back, pressing against that hand more firmly.

Alice's hips rolled against her again and Claire covered the woman's hand with her own, using Alice's fingers to massage her breast. The heat in her stomach finally pooled over and into her center. She could feel the wetness between her legs. She shifted her thighs together to create that delicious friction as she squeezed Alice's hand harder.

Claire bit her lip hard. What was she doing? Using this woman who had been nothing but kind to her. She released Alice's hand with the intention of removing it from her shirt, but the woman's fingers kept moving against her of their own volition. Claire's hips rose meeting empty air. Her head fell back against the sleeping bag and her body shuddered. But she felt so guilty.

When her eyes opened again, she slipped Alice's hand from her shirt. She turned to regard the sleeping woman and found dark eyes drilling into her own. "Claire," Alice whispered. "God, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to – dream?"

Claire shook her head. "Don't," she whispered. "You didn't – you weren't – I mean. It's okay. Let's just – sleep." She felt so ashamed. Not only had she used Alice's body to bring herself some sort of comfort, she was seriously going to let this woman believe that it had been her fault. She turned to face Alice completely, wrapping her arms around the older woman. "Can you just hold me?"

She felt Alice's warm arms slide around her, pulling her impossibly close to the older woman's hot body.

* * *

_A/N: Mmmmmhmm Claire's body remembers Alice even if her brain doesn't…_

_Review Responses:_

_angelagir – Haha, I try to keep up the schedule. I don't know if I'll be able to update this one quite as frequently cause I'm starting school, but I'm going to try._

_PrincessLia – hahaha, yeah yeah, I'll get around to it ;-) You should be used to waiting a whole week for an update. At least it wasn't a month ;-) _

_poynton90 – Thanks! Actually the character's name is Sam. Seth was just a random name that Alice was throwing out trying to remember his real name, so no, not borrowing any characters from other stories, not really my style. Sam was first mentioned in Chapter 16 of RE:Reconstruction, in the letter that Claire found in the motel room and is actually the son of a Resident Evil 6 (the game) character, that you'll find out later in the story._

_BassFriday – Glad you're enjoying so far. I'll have more up soon._

_mickelus – Haha, y'all only THINK I'm following the story. The first few chapters follow pretty closely, but after that, it's a wild ride. You'll see ;-)_

_Rainbow Unicorn – Thanks! I'll have more up for you soon. Fridays are normally my update days._

_alex dee – I'm glad you followed me over to this story, appreciated your comments from RE: Reconstruction._

_Kungfu Kia – Thanks for joining me on this story as well! I'm glad you liked the chapter. I feel like there should've been some bathing involved. Claire goes from crazy, dirty animal to clean-shaved (so to speak) in the movies with no warning or explanation._

_DalekSec-kmz – Thanks for coming along on this journey! The following the movie story line will actually only last for a few chapters, but the story will definitely be entertaining, I promise you that!_

_XxBAMBAMxX – Thanks for the support! I'm glad that you enjoyed Reconstruction, and I really appreciate you taking the time to comment on this story. It means a lot. Enjoy!_

_OnyxTemplar – Hahahaha, yeah well, what can I say? I'm mean. We both knew that already. ;-) Trust me, Janus is still around. You'll see her soon-ish. I promise._


	3. Chapter 3

_Review Responses: At the end._

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or storyline from Resident Evil. Just the thoughts swirling around my head that Alice and Claire are perfect for each other..._

* * *

Alice's POV

Alice set a metal pot on the rekindled embers of last night's fire. She filled it with water and added a couple of scoops of the coffee she had found in the stores from the Army deuce before they had left Alaska. She hated that she couldn't load more into the small plane, but she didn't want to waste fuel by overloading it.

She looked at the still-sleeping redhead. She couldn't believe that she had molested Claire in her sleep last night. Of all the times to have dreams from the past. She couldn't have just had nightmares like she did every other night? She knew the dream stemmed from the fact that she had been pressed tightly against Claire's back, but still… she didn't usually assault people while dreaming. She silently wondered how Claire would react to her this morning.

Last night in the haze of sleep, the redhead had been pretty understanding about the whole situation, but Claire's mood swings were violently unpredictable. She figured it was withdrawal from whatever drug Umbrella had been pumping into her system. She hoped it would go away soon.

Claire woke to the smell of the coffee. Alice observed her waking up ritual, watching as Claire's arms rose above her head to stretch her stiff muscles. She looked back to the coffee before the redhead could catch her staring.

Claire plopped down beside Alice. "It feels like I haven't woken up to the smell of coffee in a _long_ time," she said sleepily.

Alice chuckled. "Probably true," she said pouring a cup for the younger woman. "Hope you like it black." She handed the steaming cup of strong, black coffee to Claire.

"The only way I take it," Claire answered with a lazy smile. Then her eyes clouded over as if she were remembering something from another life.

Alice watched the redhead's face change from confusion to understanding to a devilish smirk in all of five seconds, but she chose not to comment on it. "I need to go look for fuel, I trust I don't need to tie your hands up anymore?"

The smirk on Claire's face grew into a full grin. "I don't think _my_ hands are what we need to be worrying about," she teased.

Alice looked down at the cup of coffee in her hands, ashamed. "Claire, I'm really sorry about last night. I didn't mean to – I mean it wasn't my intention to molest you when I got into the sleeping bag with you." She paused gauging the redhead's response. Claire's face remained passive. "I just didn't want you to be cold. You sounded like you were going to chip your teeth with all the chattering."

Claire smiled. "Alice, I knew you were asleep. It's fine. I promise. That is until the next time my drug-crazed alter-ego decides to make an appearance." She shook her head. "Do you think I'll get past the withdrawal soon? These headaches are starting to do a number on my sanity."

Alice gave the redhead a sad smile. "I wish I could say yes, but, I don't know how long you had that pumping through your system." She leaned in until she was just inches from Claire. She inhaled deeply. "I can still smell the drug in your blood. It's not as strong as it was yesterday, but it's still there."

Claire shook her head, confused. "How can you do that Alice? I mean, how can you tell my blood is tainted?"

She didn't want to answer that question. Mainly because she didn't think she could do it without revealing to Claire that they had been intimate, and she didn't want to push the redhead away with that information. Finally, she decided to stick with something neutral. "We were around each other a lot when we were together last. I became familiar with the scent of your blood. And K-Mart's. And Carlos's," she added so it wouldn't seem so singular.

Claire nodded, lost in thought. "I guess that's fair enough," she paused. "But I really meant how are you able to smell my blood at all."

Alice sighed. "I told you Claire. I'm not human." She frowned. "The experiments Umbrella did on me enhanced all of my senses. Along with a few other things. Strength. Speed. For a while I had this uncontrollable urge to kill that wouldn't leave me after a fight." She noticed the fearful look on Claire's face so she hurriedly added, "but I spent a lot of time in an Umbrella facility in Nevada and the White Queen and I were able to come up with a serum that eliminated that."

Claire let out a relieved sigh. "White Queen?"

"The artificial intelligence for the facility. Basically a holographic representation of the computer system itself. She talked me through the process and I developed the serum. Right now, she's using my blood to try to find a cure for everything that's going on."

Claire cocked her head to the side, obviously curious about what Alice was referring to. "When we were flying over San Francisco, I noticed people on the bridge. They were – disturbing. Walking around aimlessly. Alice, what's going on? What happened to everything?"

"Umbrella," the woman said darkly. "They were the world's leading supplier of pharmaceuticals before the outbreak. But their major funding came from viral and biological weaponry. They developed a virus that could reanimate dead cells in the brain, essentially bringing a deceased body back to life." She shook her head in disgust. "The virus escaped and destroyed Raccoon City, but as that was all happening, Umbrella realized their mistake, and the potential for total domination. They sold the virus to Japan to use on China, and to China to use on Japan. Pakistan, Israel, Russia, Iran, Iraq, South Africa, Egypt. Before too long the entire world had been overrun by these lifeless creatures. They were unthinking, and unwavering in their need to feed."

Claire swallowed loudly. "They created the zombie apocalypse?"

Alice laughed sinisterly. "If only it were that simple. They created an army. They didn't stop with just injecting the T-Virus into dead tissue. They went underground, locked themselves away from the devastation they had generated. They kept experimenting, injecting the virus into living test subjects. The results were – unstable."

Claire was obviously concerned…and scared. "Is Umbrella still out there?"

Alice nodded. "Yes, I took down their main headquarters, but there are still a ton of smaller facilities scattered around the globe."

Claire nodded, keeping her face impassive. "I guess we should go look for that fuel huh?"

Alice shook her head. "Oh no, you're not going anywhere near that compound. There are infected there. I can't focus if I'm constantly worried about you. You're going to sit in the cockpit of the plane until I get back."

The redhead glared at her. "So leaving me here, vulnerable and alone is the better option?"

Claire was right. Alice stared into her brilliant blue eyes for a few moments before going back to the plane and grabbing a pack. She rummaged through it before pulling out a pair of thigh holsters and handing them to the redhead. "Put this on."

Claire wiggled into the holsters and buckled the belt low around her hips. Alice then handed her two Glock 17s, almost identical to the ones that the ex-convoy leader used to carry. When Claire had the guns in her hands, Alice watched her eyes cloud over with thought.

"What is it?" she asked the redhead.

Claire looked at her inquisitively. "There was a girl. Young. Blonde hair. She was running from those _things. _I remember taking out all of them. I remember being terrified that she was going to die. I definitely remember how to use these," she said, indicating the pistols.

Alice smiled. Finally, Claire was starting to regain her memories. "That was K-Mart. You were very protective of her." She didn't go any further; she wanted Claire to remember her feelings and emotions on her own. "Do you remember anything else?"

Claire strained to think, her face contorting with thought. After a few moments, she shook her head. "No, I keep feeling as if I'm on the edge of something, but it always slips away right when I reach for it." She frowned.

Alice gently clasped the redhead's shoulder. "It'll come with time. This is progress," she said with a smile.

"I guess yeah. I just wish progress would speed up a bit."

Alice could tell Claire was frustrated. She wanted to pull the redhead into her arms and tell her that everything would be okay, but she fought the urge. Claire didn't remember her, and it would be uncomfortable for the younger woman if Alice pressured her with intimacy, however platonic it may be.

"Alright then," she said after a couple of seconds. "Let's go find fuel."

They walked silently toward the compound. Alice could smell the fear coming off the ex-convoy leader in waves. It was definitely a new scent for the redhead. Claire had never shown much in the way of fear when Alice had met her so many months ago in the Mojave Desert. Claire had been hard, steadfast. She had a _take-no-prisoners while protecting the ones close_ kind of attitude that Alice had come to care about. Alice missed her.

She glanced at the redhead surreptitiously. She may not be the woman she was eighteen months ago, but Alice was still drawn to her. This Claire wasn't weak; she just hadn't been through all of the things that had hardened the other Claire. If Alice was being honest with herself, the thought of Claire scared and shy, depending on her for safety, was mildly intriguing.

Claire made it a few steps before realizing that Alice had stopped. "What's up? Trouble?"

Alice smiled and shook her head. She closed the distance between them before pulling Claire against her. She wrapped her arms around the younger woman and held her there.

Claire stiffened before awkwardly returning the hug.

"I can't believe I found you again," Alice whispered. "I promise, I'm never letting you out of my sight again. I'm so sorry. All this – it's my fault."

Alice felt the redhead's grip tighten until the embrace turned into a fierce display of strength. They clung to each other under the hot California sun for a few minutes, neither speaking.

Claire finally released her hold and pulled away, eyes drilling into Alice's. "I wish I could remember you Alice. I feel as if I'm missing something – some huge part of my life that could be filled if I could just remember you."

Alice cupped the redhead's face, and Claire leaned into her cool touch. "It'll come to you." She shook her head, pained by memories from worlds ago. "It has to."

Claire stared into her eyes. "We were friends? You and I, before – in the desert?"

Alice smiled. "I'd like to think so."

Claire smiled briefly, before frowning. "Was I a good person?"

Alice cocked her head to the side. Why was Claire asking her this? "Yes, why would you ask that?"

Claire shook her head, looking away from the older woman. "I don't know. I have the feeling I let a lot of people down."

Alice looked at her sadly, cupping the redhead's chin and bringing her gaze back. "You're not the only one. We struggle. We fight. We watch our friends die. Survival is pain."

Claire's face was passive, but her eyes were filled with _regret? Longing? Pain? _Alice couldn't place the look. "Is it worth it? The pain?"

It was a question that Alice asked herself every day. "Someone has to go on. Otherwise, what is all of this for?"

She turned and started walking toward the compound. Claire fell in step beside her and they walked, again, in silence. About a hundred yards from the building, Claire reached out and took Alice's hand in hers. The older woman gave the redhead's warm hand a gentle squeeze, threading her fingers through Claire's. She felt the warmth flood her body. She had missed this feeling.

* * *

_A/N: Alright, short chapter this week. Sorry there's not much in the way of action, but I promise not to disappoint next week. :-)_

_Review Responses:_

_DalekSec-kmz – Hahahaha, well now they do have that alert list that sends a handy email out so you don't have to stare at the computer screen for hours waiting for me to remember to post ;-) but I'm very flattered that you were "patiently" awaiting the next chapter. :-D This story is ALL kinds of twisted, you'll get whiplash. I promise._

_Kungfu Kia – LoL I WISH I could have directed the movies. Would've been awesome. Maybe one day I'll actually publish something for real and then have a say in how the video adaptation turns out. LoL_

_mickelus – Oh we will definitely have a fair number of new faces, perhaps a few more badasses haha. _

_the lucky three leaf clover – I'm glad you're enjoying the story thus far. I usually update every Friday, so you can look forward to the weekends :-) Thanks so much for the review._

_Rainbow Unicorn – Aww, Afterlife wasn't that bad. I mean it wasn't my favorite RE but it was still a decent flick. Thank you though, that's very flattering. I'm glad you like the story._

_poynton90 – Haha, Alice has to be sweet to Claire, the poor woman can't even remember her own name, plus she's been a savage for the last few months. I mean, if Alice ever wants to get laid again, she's gonna have to tame the wild beast and honey works better than vinegar ;-) That's so awesome that you would acknowledge me on your page, I feel very special, thank you!_

_alex dee – I'm not sure if anyone can resist Alice. I mean really. ;-)_

_PrincessLia – Now you know I can't be answering those kinds of questions. You'll just have to wait and find out ;-)_

_123a456e – All in good time, all in good time. I will say that this story does not end by them leaving the prison and finding Arcadia, it goes much further than that, so we still have a ways to go and lots and lots of action._


	4. Chapter 4

_Review Responses:_

_At the end._

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or storyline from Resident Evil. Just the thoughts swirling around my head that Alice and Claire are perfect for each other..._

* * *

Claire's POV

They entered the compound and immediately began to search the place for supplies. There wasn't much in the way of useful supplies, but they did find a few boxes of 9-millimeter rounds and a couple extra magazines for Claire's Glocks in the security office.

Claire watched as Alice tested the fuel pumps. "Success!" Alice shouted. "There's fuel. Let's go pull the plane up."

As they walked back to the plane the ground beneath them shook violently. Claire grasped at Alice's arm. "What's going on?" she asked the older woman. She hated the sound of fear in her own voice. It sounded out of place, as if it were a feeling that she only rarely used to succumb to.

Alice shook her head. "Earthquake. This area was known for them even back before the outbreak. It's okay Claire," the older woman assured her.

Claire was still uneasy. Something about the earthquake didn't sit right with her blood, but she shoved the fear down. She knew she used to be stronger than this. She wanted to be that woman again. Someone like Alice, so sure of herself, never showing the slightest emotion. Claire felt like her fear was painted all over her face. Alice probably thought she was the weakest person ever, and that made her even angrier with herself.

When the ground had settled, they resumed their walking, but Claire didn't let go of Alice's arm. Even if it made her appear weak, she kept her grip tight. She may not remember her time with the woman before this, but now Alice was her rock. The older woman's certainty and strength was comforting for Claire, and right now, as she was trying to cope with this new environment, she needed all the comfort she could get.

They broke camp and Claire helped Alice pack everything back into the small plane. When they pulled it up to the fuel pumps, Alice hooked up the lines and began pumping fuel into the reserve tanks first. She had one reserve full and was working on the other one when the ground began to shake again.

Claire noted the concern on the older woman's face this time. Apparently, earthquakes this frequently were _not_ that commonplace. "Alice?" she questioned.

Alice shook her head. "I'm sure it's nothing Claire." But the older woman's eyes surveyed the area and she took a deep breath. She looked, to Claire, like a wild deer that had just caught the scent of a lion. It made the redhead very nervous.

Claire felt uneasy. Something wasn't right; she could feel it in her bones. "Alice, shouldn't this place be crawling with those things? Those infected things?"

Alice took a moment to think. She looked around, inhaling deeply once more. "Infected are drawn to living things. If there's nothing in a town to keep them there, they will eventually move on in search of food. They may have flocked to the nearest city."

"_May have? _What if something drove them out? Something worse? I have a really bad feeling about all of this." She looked around anxiously.

Right on cue, the ground shook violently. About fifty yards from the plane, the earth split open and out slithered a _monstrous _worm. It was dark brown and it couldn't have been less than twenty feet long. At the front end was a giant maw of four, foot-long mandibles. Dark emptiness was all Claire could see behind those huge teeth. She screamed.

Alice's eyes were as wide as saucers. She immediately pulled out her shotguns and sprinted toward the creature. "Alice no!" Claire shouted, but the woman continued on, firing again and again into the gaping hole of a mouth. The shots didn't seem to faze the giant worm. He slithered slowly toward the older woman. When Alice was about five yards from the thing, it struck like a snake, the speed and flexibility of the creature catching the brunette off guard.

A huge mandible caught Alice in the side, ripping open her jacket and shirt until they hung loosely off her body. Claire could see the deep gash in the woman's side even from as far away as she was. The wound didn't seem to deter Alice at all. She had holstered her useless shotguns and pulled out the kukri blades she spent hours sharpening each night.

Her arms were a blur as she rained down blow after vicious blow on the creature. Finally, one swing seemed to hit home. Alice had sliced deep into the worm's gum and one of the huge mandibles fell to the ground. Blood poured from the thing's mouth and it thrashed wildly about.

If a creature with no face was capable of looking angry, then this thing was _pissed!_ Claire watched as the hideous maw turned back to Alice, still dripping blood from the hole caused by the loss of its tooth.

Alice seemed to realize that her small blades, no matter how lethal, were no match for this creature. She ran back to the plane.

Alice grabbed a pack from the cockpit, pulling from it what appeared to be a grenade launcher. She took out a bright yellow grenade and loaded it into the chamber, clicking the launcher closed.

She sprinted off toward the worm again. The giant creature dove back into the hole from which he had emerged. Alice went to the edge of the hole and peered inside. Claire was certain that the worm was going to launch out of the hole at any time and swallow Alice whole. The ground shook again. Alice turned in a circle trying to discern where the vibrations were coming from. Suddenly about ten feet from the last hole, the worm tore up from the ground, old bones and human remains exploded from the creature's mouth in a regurgitated mess as it let out an angry hiss.

Alice turned and fired the grenade straight into that gaping hole of a mouth. The hiss immediately transformed into one of pain as the round exploded inside of the creature and started, what appeared to Claire, dissolving its insides. The creature slunk back into its hole to die.

Alice turned toward Claire, a lopsided grin on her face. She slung the grenade launcher over her shoulder and slowly walked back to the plane.

Claire had just finished refilling the main tank when a second worm broke through the ground.

"Shit!" Alice yelled. "That was my last acid round!" She tossed the grenade launcher back in the plane, but she didn't hesitate to run toward the worm to keep it away from Claire.

Claire felt herself fill with fear, but then all of that fear bubbled over into an extra concentrated _rage_. She was pissed. No one threatened her, or the people close to her. She felt the world slipping away, darkness closing in around the edges of her vision. She felt her legs moving but she couldn't control them. She watched helplessly as her hands wrapped around the fuel line and ripped it from the plane's fuel connector. She yelled for Alice to move. The voice was hers, but where did it come from? She hadn't made any conscious decision to say anything.

She watched as Alice dove out of the way of the spray of fuel Claire was directing at the worm. Claire soaked the worm as it inched slowly toward her. "Alice, kill the fuel and start the plane!" she shouted at the woman.

The older woman ran toward the fuel pump, shutting it off and sprinting to the plane. Once the hose began to settle in her hands, she dropped it and took off toward the plane. Alice already had the engines going. Once Claire was nestled in the back seat, the brunette slowly began to pull away from the pump as Claire brought out a pack of Marlboro Reds she'd found earlier in the bag Alice had claimed was hers. Placing one between her lips, she lit the end. She took one long drag before flicking the cigarette behind her.

Neither woman watched as the cigarette landed in a puddle of gasoline, flames flashing to life and quickly following the trail leading straight to the worm. _The Grave Digger, _Claire thought_._ The creature erupted in flames. A piercing howl shook the small plane as its landing gear left the ground. Looking down, Claire noticed three more of the Grave Diggers explode from the ground to avenge their brother. She shivered. They had gotten out just in the nick of time.

"Alice?" Claire questioned. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Her voice was clipped, controlled. "No irrepressible urges to kill anything. I promise."

Claire sighed. "That's not what I meant Alice. You're bleeding. Are you hurt? And what was that you shot that Grave Digger with?"

Alice canted her head toward the ex-convoy leader. "Grave Digger huh? Nice. It's an M-79 single shot grenade launcher. The round was a thing of my own personal design though. Melted down old batteries and used a hollowed out frag grenade casing. Took out the shrapnel, and instead put in a shatter-prone placenta filled with the melted down battery acid and gasoline separated only by a very thin piece of aluminum." She paused. "As for the cut, it's probably already healed by now, actually. I'll be fine Claire. You don't need to worry about me. But you – I'm more than a bit worried about. It was like you were a different person out there Claire. What was up with that?"

"What do you mean?" Alice's tone was starting to make her worry.

Alice chuckled. "Well when I first saw you, you looked like you were about to pass out from fear. You were white as a ghost. But then it was like you transformed into this – well something else. When you ripped the fuel line out and started spraying it at the worm, it was like – like you didn't even care that I was there. Like if you had to take me down in the process you would." Alice sighed.

Claire was shocked. "I ripped the fuel hose out and sprayed it at the Grave Digger? I don't – I don't even remember that. I killed it? The last thing I remember is you firing the grenade launcher at it. I thought that's what killed it." She shook her head. This was the first time she had had trouble remembering something short-term. Was this part of the withdrawal? Was it getting worse? What if she developed some form of complete memory loss?

"I killed the first one, but a second one popped out of the ground only a few seconds later. It was like they were drawn by the other's cries of pain." She paused. "The withdrawal seems to be getting worse," Alice confirmed. "I don't really like the sound of that. We need to get you to someone who can purge the drug from your body. "There was an Umbrella facility in Los Angeles before the outbreak. I cleaned it out while I was looking for answers, but the artificial intelligence was still operational, as was most of the equipment. I think she may be able to help, but in the mean time," Alice turned in her seat and retied Claire's hands. "I'm not sure I trust your alter-ego."

Claire nodded. She wasn't sure she trusted it either. Plus, if she was being honest with herself, the fact that she was now putting her life in the hands of this strange woman and an Umbrella computer system was more than slightly unnerving.

* * *

_A/N: OMG Ali Larter has an alter-ego! Wait…hasn't that already been done? Okay Okay, I know what you're thinking, but I couldn't help it. Niki/Jessica was just…hot… Anyway, for those of you who don't get the story updates, I'll be posting another chapter tomorrow as a birthday present to PrincessLia. Enjoy ;-)_

_Review Responses:_

_PrincessLia – Well, as long as you still love my FF ;-) most people hate me. LoL I'm used to it. But just for your birthday, I'll post another chapter tomorrow. Happy Birthday ;-)_

_123a456e – Oh yeah, Claire's memory is coming back little by little. Or IS it? Still got some major hurtles to clear, but I have faith in her abilities. ;-)_

_mickelus – I'm going through K-Mart withdrawal right now actually. I can't wait until I get to add her to the story, but all good things to those who wait I suppose. I agree, short chapters can be just as effective as long chapters, sometimes even more effective under the right circumstances. _

_angelsgir – Hahhaha, well if all of my stalkers were like you two I wouldn't have to sleep with bars on my windows. LoL jk (sort of). I'm glad you like the story enough to stalk my page. I won't let you down :-)_

_poynton90 – Haha, Alice has really grown emotionally over these two stories, but she still has some growing left to do. It's nice to be able to write her as a "feeling" character instead of just an "action" character. More fun this way. I really enjoyed Afterlife as well, but it wasn't my favorite. I will forever love Extinction. And the very first one because it FELT like I was playing the game LoL._

_Rainbow Unicorn – Well then I'm very flattered that you think my ideas are awesome. I try very hard to please my readers :-)_

_the lucky three leaf clover – Thanks! It's actually a lot harder than it probably seems. I keep writing things and then reading back over them like "no she wouldn't remember that" then having to rewrite. LoL_

_alex dee – Oh Claire will be Claire again. We all know I can't write an entire story without having some Alice/Claire sexytime. ;-)_

_DalekSec-kmz – I know right? It's so much fun to be able to let them emotionally connect with each other. I didn't get to do that too much in the first story until right at the very end, so I'm making the most of it now!_


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Okay, sorry, got side tracked yesterday, but here is your chapter as promised. Enjoy._

_Review Responses: _

_At the end._

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or storyline from Resident Evil. Just the thoughts swirling around my head that Alice and Claire are perfect for each other..._

* * *

Alice's POV

They'd been in the air for a few minutes before Claire spoke again. "What if she can't help me Alice?" She paused. "I mean, what if I'm stuck like this for good? With no clue of who I was in the past, slowly moving away from knowing who I am now?" Alice could hear the redhead's voice trembling no matter how hard she tried to keep it steady. "What if I never remember you? What if you get tired of always having to explain things to me? What if these mood swings get worse? What if I continue to black out? What if – "

"What if she takes care of all of it and tomorrow everything is back to normal?" Alice interrupted. "Claire, we can't live in _what ifs_. We would never move forward."

She could hear the redhead softly sobbing in the back of the plane, just barely audible through the roar of the engines. Claire Redfield – crying. It was a strange sound; it felt foreign and misplaced to her ears. "Claire, if she can't help you, it doesn't change anything. Even if you never remember me, I'm still here. We still have now; just know that I will protect you, from anything."

Alice didn't like thinking about Claire never getting her memories back anymore than the redhead did, but she couldn't afford to think negatively. It would just affect her focus. She looked to the rear of the plane to see that Claire was leaning against the reserve tank with her eyes closed. She wasn't sleeping, but the brunette could tell that she was beat. The withdrawal from that drug really was doing a number on the woman.

Alice thought back to earlier. Watching Claire spray the huge worm – the Grave Digger, as the redhead called it – with fuel and then toss the cigarette that would set the beast ablaze, it was unbelievable. That Claire had just come out of nowhere, buried deep within the scared, needy woman quietly sobbing in the back now.

Alice had heard about people going through violent mood swings while suffering from withdrawal, but shifting between a terrified, childlike woman and a badass with a case of hero adrenalin was pretty extreme, even by the day's standards.

As Los Angeles came into view, Alice could see dark smoke still rising from the remains of what used to be high-rise corporations and condominiums that reached the sky. She wove the small plane through the dark columns of smoke. She was almost out of the city when something caught her eye. She craned her neck around to make sure she wasn't seeing things. Sure enough, someone was shooting flares.

She pulled the controls and made the plane circle around. There were people on the roof of the prison. She circled around the prison, decreasing altitude slowly. Claire shifted in the back seat.

"Alice," she questioned, her voice low and concerned. "What are you thinking?"

"There are people down there. This may get a little rough." She smirked at her own innuendo. She looked back at Claire. "Give me your hands. I'm going to cut you loose okay? Just don't do anything crazy." She cut the woman loose and turned back to the controls.

Claire sat quietly in the back, unresponsive. "You may want to hold on," Alice called back, but the woman remained impassive.

"You'll get the idea soon enough."

She pulled the flaps open wide and nosed the airplane upward. The engine stall warning began to blare. She tilted the plane to the side so she could get a picture of where she was going.

The people on the roof scattered like roaches in harsh fluorescent lights. The tail hit first, sending up a wall of sparks. The wheels followed shortly after and the smell of burnt rubber filled the air.

Alice locked the brakes up and sent the plane into a power slide. She could see the edge of the roof coming up fast and pulled even harder on the control stick. "Come on. Come ON!" The plane slowed, but not nearly enough. It hit the edge hard, sending chunks of concrete sailing downward. Slowly, the plane tipped up and over the edge.

Alice found herself staring straight down, at least a hundred feet, straight into an army of undead, all impatiently awaiting their blood. Alice felt something pulling at the plane, keeping it dangling on the edge, but even with the backward force, the plane slowly began to tilt more.

A loud thud shook the plane and the tilt halted, then, the plane was easing back into the horizontal position. Alice spared a glance behind her and caught sight of a tall, athletic black man hanging onto the tail. The plane was dragged slowly away from the edge of the roof. When it came to a stop, Alice pulled open the canopy and hopped out.

She jumped down off the wing to take a look at her saviors. The look on their faces was priceless; they couldn't even hide their surprise to find a woman behind the controls.

The tall, dark man stepped forward. "Nice landing."

Alice smiled at him, noticing how attractive he was. "I think technically it's called crashing."

He smiled a charismatic smile and held out his hand. "Luther West, charmed and impressed."

Alice shook Luther's hand. "Alice," she said softly. She heard Claire jumping down onto the wing. "This is Claire."

Luther held out his hand to help the redhead down, but she just looked right past him and hopped down to the ground.

Luther raised an eyebrow at Alice. "Your friend doesn't talk much."

The brunette smiled watching Claire walk to the edge of the roof and look out at the ocean. "No."

Luther introduced the rest of the people on the rooftop. There was Angel Ortiz, ex-military mechanic. A stocky man with tanned skin and an only partially shaven face. Crystal, an Australian woman who moved to LA with dreams of becoming an actress. A rude man who they only knew as _Bennett_ – he claimed to be some high-end movie producer – and his assistant, Kim Yong.

"So you're from Arcadia? You've come to rescue us?" Crystal broke into the introductions.

"What did you say?" Alice turned to the Australian woman. How did she know about Arcadia? All the way in LA. "What do you know about Arcadia?"

"They said they could help us," the Asian man interrupted. "Survivors. Civilization. Safety." He paused. "Infection free."

"So did they send you?" Crystal asked; voice filled with hope.

"No." Alice shook her head, feeling guilty at letting them down.

She watched as the hope drained from their eyes slowly. "But there are others? Like you?"

"Just us."

Crystal shook her head. "You mean this is it? There's to be no rescue?"

"I'm sorry," Alice whispered as the group began dispersing.

Only Luther and Angel remained behind.

"Don't worry too much about it," the dark-skinned man said. "They just had their hopes up."

Angel smiled and clasped Alice on the shoulder. "Thought you could take them to the Promise Land."

She returned the smile and looked at Luther. "I have the strangest feeling I know you."

Luther smiled wide. "I get that a lot. You a sports fan?"

Alice shook her head. "Not really."

His face deflated a bit, but his smile remained. "Maybe just a fan of Gatorade then." He motioned toward the side of a building about fifty yards away. On the wall was a huge billboard with Luther in his NBA gear, purple beads of sweat rolling down his chiseled features. He held up a Gatorade and promised it would give you _Star Power_."

Alice turned back to the man smiling, but her face went serious quickly. "Tell me what you know about Arcadia."

Luther's face got serious as well. "Just what we've heard through the transmissions. No infection. Food. Safety. We thought they'd see us, that's why we were shooting flares."

Alice shook her head. "Flares? No one's going to see flares from Alaska."

Luther's face was filled with confusion. "Now you've lost me."

"Arcadia. I've been there. It's a town in Alaska…or so we thought."

Luther looked at her as if she had lost her mind. "A town? I don't think so. Come with me."

She followed him over to the edge of the roof where Claire stood, staring out across the ocean. "Is your friend okay?"

Claire was staring intently, focused on some point far out across the water. Her face was straining, as if she were digging deep to find memories. "Claire?" The younger woman turned, slowly, unable to tear herself away. "Come on," Alice whispered, taking the redhead's hand.

Alice noticed Luther's eyes taking in the sight of their joined hands. Something akin to curiosity passed over his face before he turned away and started leading the women up a ladder to the highest point of the roof.

Angel stood beside of makeshift observation point. He handed Alice a pair of binoculars. "Take a look."

Alice held the binos up and looked across the water. "At what?"

Angel chuckled. "Arcadia."

She scanned the water before finding what Claire had been looking at earlier. The redhead had already pieced it together. An abandoned freighter ship sat anchored out in the Santa Monica Bay. On the side, the word Arcadia was painted in white fading letters. "It's a ship."

Angel played the last recording back. "It's the same message that we heard, only with different coordinates," Alice told him. The message stopped in burst of static, followed by an eerie silence. "What happened?"

"The transmissions just stopped. That was the last one. From two days ago." Angel shook his head.

Claire turned to Alice, her eyes suddenly clear of the fog they've held for the past few days. "Claire, are you okay?"

"Arcadia," she whispered. "I remember."

Alice grabbed the redhead's shoulders. "What? Tell me."

"I remember – the beach – and – a boat. People coming to help us."

Alice smiled. "But what happened to you, Claire? Why didn't you go with the others?"

Claire stared blankly at Alice, searching her mind. Finally, she shook her head. "I don't know."

* * *

As it got dark, Alice was working on the plane in the light of the makeshift torches surrounding the roof – rags wrapped around sticks soaked in gasoline. She glanced over at Luther, Angel and Kim playing a game of basketball. The basket was an old five-gallon bucket with the bottom sawed off hanging from one of the light posts. Alice grinned. Luther was winning, of course.

Kim Yong's shot went wide, and the ball sailed over the side of the roof and into the crowd of hungry undead below. "Looks like the game's over," Luther said before walking over to Alice. "What are you doing?"

Alice was attaching a steel cable to the tail of the plane. She had pulled the small plane back to the furthest point. "The roof is too short for a regular take off. If I tether it, it will give me time to get the engine up to full speed before letting it go."

Luther looked at her like she was crazy. "Will that actually work?"

Alice smirked. "In theory…"

She walked to the edge and looked down. She could see the basketball lying at the feet of a huge, tower of a creature. He was holding an axe almost as big as he was. She shook her head. "Do you even remember life before this? How long has it been?"

Luther shook his head. "Four, maybe five years."

"Christ. Is that all?" She watched as a group of undead moved throughout the streets. They were fast. Agile even. "They're getting faster."

Luther looked at her sidelong. "You've noticed it too? I'm seeing the slow ones less and less now."

Alice nodded. "Back then, humans were plentiful. Food was easily caught. They didn't need to be fast."

Luther's face twisted in disgust. "You're saying what? They're evolving?"

Alice tilted her head to the side and thought hard on how to answer. "Evolving. Mutating. Call it what you will. Just as long as they don't learn how to climb walls."

Luther chuckled. "Amen to that. You hungry?"

Alice smiled. "Starving."

"Then let me buy you dinner. I know a place, real romantic." He winked at the woman. Alice smiled uncomfortably, eyes darting to Claire as she watched the redhead following Angel to the roof's exit.

When Luther handed her a tray, she immediately scanned the room for Claire. She found the woman sitting at a small table with Angel. She was staring at Alice, an odd look on her face, so she grabbed an extra plate for Claire, and the older woman went to sit with the pair. Luther, of course followed.

"Can that plane of yours still fly? I could take a look at it for you." It was a sincere offer from the mechanic.

Alice nodded. "I'm sure it will still get airborne. That's not really the issue though. Even if I drop the reserves I could only hold three maybe four people. And I may have lucked out once, but I don't think I'd be able to land on the roof a second time." She looked around counting. "Is this all of you?"

"Almost," Luther said casually.

Alice smirked. "Who's the lucky person missing out on dinner?"

Luther's face went dark. "Come on. I'll show you the dungeon."

He led her down a few flights of stairs, deep into the depths of the prison. The torches lining the wall here were the only light, and the closed off, non-ventilated corridors made breathing a challenge.

"We thought this place was deserted, until we found…" he pulled back a shuttered door to reveal a stocky, muscled man with short dark hair and deep blue eyes.

A grumpy looking, balding man in his mid-forties was sitting in a chair guarding the prisoner. "Time for a break Wendell."

The man huffed. "About fucking time." He looked at Alice and sneered. "Who the fuck are you?"

She didn't even acknowledge his presence.

Luther pulled the man aside. "What are you hearing?"

The man looked toward the back of the room, where the torches couldn't even begin to cast light through the darkness. "I told you…movement. From back there."

Luther grabbed a torch and he and Wendell went to investigate the noises. Alice watched them fade into the darkness before turning back to the cell. On Wendell's chair was a well-used copy of Hustler magazine. Alice's distaste must have shown on her face because the prisoner chuckled darkly.

"Yeah, Wendell's great company. And now he's hearing things in the walls. And they think I'm crazy." He stuck his hand through the bars. "Name's Chris."

Alice didn't take the hand. She looked at him, eyes calculating. She didn't really know what to make of him.

"You were the one flying that plane?" he asked casually.

"How do you know about that?"

"Wendell isn't the only one who hears things. Must've been a toss up of a landing though. That roof can't be over 250 feet."

Alice smiled, in spite of herself. "More like 230."

Chris grinned. The look seemed out of place on his dark face, but oddly familiar. "Well I'm glad you made it. Maybe you can talk some sense into these people."

"How's that?"

Chris sighed. "I'm not supposed to be in here. I was working with a military unit called the S.T.A.R.S. just before the outbreak. Things were already pretty bad in here. This is where they sent all of LA's gang members. When the Governor made the call to release the inmates, we were pulling out when a gang jumped me. I woke up in here; their idea of a joke I'm sure. My unit was already gone."

Alice stared at him. She didn't know what to make of his story. It's obvious that the others didn't believe him.

Luther and Wendell emerged from the shadows then. "Come on, there's nothing back there."

As they walked away, Chris called after them. "If you get me out I'll do the same for you!"

Luther shook his head.

They picked up Claire on the way and Luther led the two to the sleeping quarters. "It isn't much, but it's a bed," he paused. "Sort of."

Alice smiled at the small cot. _Better than the ground_. She smiled at Luther.

He started to lead Claire away when Alice caught the redhead by the arm. "She stays with me. I don't like letting her out of my sight."

Luther raised a dark brow. "That bed's pretty small Alice."

Alice chuckled. "I'll take the floor."

He held up his hands in defeat and walked off into the darkness.

Claire looked at Alice curiously for a few minutes before sitting on the small cot. Alice was removing her jacket to use as a makeshift pillow when she felt the redhead's hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to sleep on the floor Alice." Claire leaned back on the bed, twisted to her side and patted the spot in front of her. Alice stared at the empty spot for a minute before shifting to the bed and lying in front of the redhead. She felt Claire's strong arm wrap around her waist, pulling her closer, holding her tightly. She drifted off to the feeling of the younger woman's chest, rising and falling against her back.

* * *

_A/N: Yay new characters! And yay for Alice/Claire fluffy times :-) So much fun to write! Hope you all enjoyed. Happy birthday PrincessLia ;-)_

_Review Responses: _

_poynton90 – I'm so happy you like that fact that I'm integrating the video games with the movies! I didn't know how people would response to the meshing of the two worlds, so I'm glad to get a good response. And yes, Claire's alter-ego will get VERY interesting soon. Hope you like the new characters, by the end of this story a lot more will be introduced. Some you will recognize from the games ;-)_

_PrincessLia – Hahah it's nice to know that I can vanquish bad feelings with more chapters ;-) Hope you enjoyed your birthday present. You shall see soon enough how Claire's alter-ego feels about Alice, but again, nothing is as it seems in this story. You will do well to remember that. _

_the lucky three leaf clover – Hahah, you're probably right. I'm sure Alice could've handled herself had Claire not stepped in, but I needed to introduce the Claire v. 2.0 so she can fully integrate into the story._

_mickelus – Haha, I don't know what white phosphorous is, but I'm sure it would be a lot more difficult to find than old batteries, so Alice had to make do with what she had. I'm sure the idea itself is probably ludicrous, but that's what I love about fiction, not everything has to make perfect sense to still be somewhat believable. I just HAD to bring back the grenade launcher as it was my favorite weapon. That thing was a spider killing SOB! LoL_

_123a456e – I'm glad you didn't expect it! It means I can still surprise you. That's always good. I never enjoy reading stories I have figured out from the beginning. ;-)_

_angelsgir - Haha, yeah that's good to know. I'm glad you like the Heroes ref. There are more surprises in store!_


	6. Chapter 6

_Review Responses:_

_At the end._

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or storyline from Resident Evil. Just the thoughts swirling around my head that Alice and Claire are perfect for each other..._

* * *

Claire's POV

Claire felt Alice jerk awake to the sound of a quiet cough coming from the door of her cell. Claire started at the older woman's movements. Alice's gun was in hand before the redhead had even opened her eyes, and Claire could see her sitting up, training the sights on the shadowy figure in the doorway. Luther held up his hands. "Don't shoot. It's just me. I came to give you a surprise."

Alice lowered the gun, as Claire shifted behind her in the small bed. Finally, Luther stepped forward into the light, and Claire could see his eyes shifting between her and the older woman. She could only imagine what was going on in the man's mind. "I've learned not to like surprises," Alice said caustically.

Luther smiled. "Oh I think you'll enjoy this one. Come with me."

The two women followed Luther deeper into the living area. "What's that smell?" she asked the man.

Luther pointed to a few barrels lining the wall. "Motor oil. It may not smell that great, but it burns for a while."

They stopped at a door and Luther pushed it open. Rows of communal showers lined the walls. One of them was already running, as if the man had assumed Alice would be joining him. Claire scowled at Luther, but Alice smiled. "Very civilized."

Luther returned the grin. "Well, I wouldn't call it hot exactly, but we do our best."

The dark-skinned man hung a couple of towels on a rack. "These are for you." His eyes shifted to Claire, questioning look on his face. He didn't know if the redhead would be joining Alice for her shower or not.

"Are you always this hospitable with your guests?" Alice asked.

Luther grinned again. "We don't get many visitors." He glanced quickly at Claire, then back to Alice. "And none that look like you." Claire felt an unbelievable urge to attack the dark man. She couldn't really place the feeling of hostility, so she chalked it up to withdrawal from the drug.

Alice removed her jacket before turning toward Luther. "Thanks, we'll be okay."

Claire could see the disappointment on the man's face and she smiled to herself. She was almost positive now that she and Alice had had something more than friendship before. She would have to ask the woman about it later.

She stared daggers into Luther's back as he walked away, leaving them to their shower. Alice stripped off her holsters and laid them on the shelf well within arms reach. As she pulled off her t-shirt, Claire couldn't help but admire the way the older woman's muscles flexed underneath her smooth skin.

Her eyes were immediately drawn to the fact that Alice wasn't wearing anything underneath the shirt. _My God, she's flawless. _The thought popped into her head from nowhere. She heard Alice clear her throat softly and the redhead's eyes snapped back up to the older woman's face. Alice was smirking at her as she unbuttoned her tight black pants and pulled them down her toned legs.

"You know those clothes are practically brand new," Alice teased. "I don't think they need washing quite yet."

Claire removed her clothes in record time. Alice chuckled as she stepped into the spray. Claire stood, rapt attention on Alice's hardening nipples, hearing the brunette sigh as the water trailed down her body. "It's a bit chilly."

Claire stepped under the spray and was assaulted by the cold water. She gasped. She couldn't tell if the sound was from the shock of the water or her proximity to Alice's naked body, but when Alice handed her the soap, fingers gliding against her own, the temperature of the water was quickly forgotten.

Claire could feel the heat in her face. Feel her heart hammering in her chest. She turned her back to Alice because it was the only way that she could be sure she wouldn't stare at the woman. _What's wrong with me?_ She felt like a teenager seeing her first naked woman.

She soaped up her hands, washing her shoulders, trying to get as far down her back as she could reach, when she felt Alice move closer to her. The older woman's fingers were taking the soap from her own. "Here," Alice whispered. "Let me help."

Alice pulled the younger woman's hair to the side, letting it drape over her shoulder. Claire's eyes fluttered shut at the feeling of Alice's hands moving against her skin. Fingertips sliding effortlessly down the redhead's spine before running back up her sides, grazing the sides of her breasts. Claire inhaled sharply. She could feel a wetness between her thighs that had nothing to do with the water.

"Claire," the woman whispered, breath hot against her ear. The brunette's slender fingers ran back down her sides and tightened around her hips, pulling her backward into the hard, muscled body behind her. She could feel Alice's nipples pressing into her shoulder blades.

Flashes of memories passed through Claire's mind. _Her back forced against a concrete wall, a cool body pressed against her own. Fingers sliding between her legs, soft, slightly chapped lips against her ear_. She moaned. "Alice, please, I – " She was cut off by strong hands spinning her body around to face the taller woman.

Alice's lips were against hers in a heartbeat. Tongue dancing along the seal of Claire's mouth, imploring the redhead to allow her entrance. Claire's head was spinning. Her entire body was on fire. Her hands came to rest on the brunette's chest. She didn't know whether she wanted to push the woman away or draw her closer.

The heat from Alice's body chased off the chill of the water. Finally, Claire relaxed her jaw and opened herself to Alice's warm tongue.

The brunette's fingers flexed against Claire's hips before tightening even more than before. Claire could feel her skin bruising under Alice's hands. She didn't care.

Her brain caught up with her after a moment and she subtly pushed against Alice's chest. The older woman stopped her advances immediately. Alice pulled away, chest heaving with her struggle for breath. Claire could see a war in Alice's blue-green eyes and knew that it was taking all the woman had to hold herself back.

"Alice, we were – we were more than just friends – weren't we?" Deep down, she already knew the answer to that, but when Alice nodded, head jerking with the strain of her control, Claire felt the heat in her body rise again.

She took a deep breath, steadying her thoughts. "Were we? I mean – did I love you?" It was an odd question, she knew, but the emotion that flooded the brunette's face when the words were spoken aloud, screamed volumes.

"You – told me you did. Once," Alice whispered.

Claire nodded. She could still feel her body's response to the woman. Her body still loved Alice. Still remembered her. She clutched at the flashes of memory from earlier, still just pieces of a puzzle she didn't know if she would ever finish. She stared into Alice eyes. "This is hard for you isn't it?" She gestured to their proximity.

Alice cocked her head to the side, eyes softening. She shook her head slightly. "Being away from you was so much harder." A gentle smile tugged at the corner of her lips. She reached up to cradle Claire's face. Her hands were rough, fingers calloused. It felt amazing. "I would wait for you, forever if I had to." Alice shook her head. "Forever," she repeated in a whisper.

Alice's eyes had never left her own. Never once glanced down to sneak a peek at her naked body. She just stared at Claire, eyes full of compassion…and longing.

"Alice," she started. "All day, all night, the only thing I could think about was the feeling of your hands on me that night. Even in your sleep, even though I have no recollection of _us_. My body remembers your hands. Your touch." She reached out and took Alice's warm hand, bringing it to her chest.

She could feel her heart beating wildly against the wall of her chest, almost as if it were trying to reach out and touch the other woman's fingers. Alice smiled at the feeling. Claire's hand covered the older woman's, dragging it across her chest until it was resting gently against her breast. She moaned at the contact, encouraging Alice to squeeze.

Alice's fingers flexed against her skin, hesitantly. "Claire we should," she swallowed loudly. "Wait. You don't even remember me."

The redhead reached out, fingers trailing against Alice's toned stomach. Downward, tracing the line of her hipbone. Alice gasped and her hand roughly pressed against Claire's breast. Claire felt her nipple tighten against Alice's palm. "But I do remember you." Her hand slid in between Alice's thighs, making the woman moan softly and push her hips forward. "I remember _this._"

A noise from behind them startled them both. They spun around. Alice's pistol was in her hand pointing toward a small towel rack before Claire could even register what was going on.

Alice slowly padded across the wet concrete, gun trained on the rack. She pulled the towels aside and out stumbled a man. Wendell.

"I'm sorry! Don't shoot. I just – "

She shoved him away roughly and he fell backward onto the floor. "Get out of my sight," she growled.

The man scurried backward in a crab walk, when suddenly, a dark figure sprang up, straight from the concrete wrapping him in a tight embrace before pulling him down into the hole he had burrowed from.

Claire screamed.

The muscles under Alice's naked skin tightened as she held the gun steady and walked toward the hole. "What the fuck is with everything coming up from the ground?"

Claire heard the rumble of shifting concrete behind her. She felt the fear drain from her body, replaced by anger. She turned and landed a kick square in the creature's chest sending him flying backward.

She heard a shot fired and turned to find Alice battling another creature. The thing had long tentacles that protruded from its mouth. They were wrapped around Alice's arm. One tentacle knocked the gun free from her hand.

Claire saw red.

She ripped the hanging bar off of the clothes rack beside her. Hangers went flying around her as she lunged forward, swinging the pole with every ounce of strength she had. The pole broke through the tentacles like they were rubber bands, stretched to their limit. She heard the popping of tendons and the ripping of flesh. If the creature felt pain, he didn't show it.

She swung again, this time making contact with the thing's face as Alice dove for her gun. Cold clammy hands were at her back and she remembered the other infected. She stabbed backward with the pole, finding the soft, fleshy tissue of the thing's stomach.

It wasn't a clean stab. The end of the pole was blunt and she had to wonder where she had gotten the strength to push it through. She quickly decided adrenaline mixed with the creatures soft, decaying tissue.

The thing was still trying to come at her when she heard a shot fired behind her back. Then the thing fell limp as Alice's second bullet found its home in the creature's brain. "What the _fuck_ was that Alice?"

Alice looked at her inquisitively. "Claire?"

"Yeah. No shit. That virus suddenly affecting your intelligence?"

Alice shook her head, clearing her thoughts. "You – you remember me?"

Claire was frustrated with the older woman now. "Of course I remember you. How could I forget?"

Alice threw herself at the redhead, arms wrapping around her, lips seeking her own. Claire pulled away roughly and glared at the woman.

"Do you remember what happened? In Alaska?" Alice asked, looking only slightly hurt by her rejection.

Claire narrowed her eyes at the older woman. "Hard to forget, Alice. You sent us all to our deaths."

Luther burst through the door and into the showers behind them and they turned to meet him. His eyes were immediately drawn downward, first over Alice's lithe body, then to Claire's. He cleared his throat and turned away. "I heard shots. What's going on?"

Alice was pulling on her clothes before Claire could even move. She felt dizzy, disoriented, but she heard the other woman speak. "We were attacked. They burrowed up from the floor, straight through the concrete. Luther, they could come up from anywhere." She paused. "And Claire seems to have gotten her memory back."

It was the last thing she heard before the room was spinning and she felt herself falling backward.

* * *

_A/N: Dun dun dun… Looks like Claire's alter-ego is the one with all of her memories…and those memories don't seem to be too fond of Alice. What's going to happen when the personalities finally merge? IF they merge…_

_Review Responses:_

_PrincessLia – I'm glad you enjoyed it. I hope it was up to birthday standards. I can't take credit for the plane thing, it was actually part of the original script for Afterlife, it was just cut from the movie. Claire doesn't know how she feels at the moment. She's totally confused and freaked out because of the memory loss. However, there are still a couple of major twists to this plot regarding those two, so. We shall see how it all works out._

_the lucky three leaf clover – Good to hear you enjoyed reading. Claire is finally warming up to Alice. You can expect more heart to hearts in the near future. _

_poynton90 – Let's see… this story has… um…a total of 26 characters, some new, some from my last story that turn up later. Some from the movie. A few from the video games. I may add more before the story is over, but as of now, that's the count. Enjoy ;-)_

_alex dee – Oh definitely no judging from this way. I think Claire's alter-ego is super sexy. I have MANY ideas in store for that little plot twist… ::evil laugh::_

_Rainbow Unicorn – Haha I hear ya. Life may get in my way next week for posting too, as I will be out of the country, but I'll try my best. Glad you enjoyed._

_LadyDeath14 – I know right? Claire is so yummy…_

_DalekSec-kmz – Haha that was my all time favorite line from RE. I love how Alice can still make jokes even though the world has ended. LoL Don't get too spoiled, I'm not sure if I'll even be able to post next week, but I'll try!_


	7. Chapter 7

_Review Responses:_

_At the end._

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or storyline from Resident Evil. Just the thoughts swirling around my head that Alice and Claire are perfect for each other..._

* * *

Alice's POV

Alice saw Claire's face go pale. She was at her side in less than a second catching the woman before she could hit the concrete floor. "Claire?! Claire come back to me."

Luther stepped forward to help, but Alice pulled the redhead's naked body into her arms protectively. "I've got her. Will you grab her clothes?" She could tell the man was impressed by her strength as she easily carried Claire toward their quarters.

She heard a noise behind her and turned slightly to see a horde of undead crawling up from the ground. She handed Claire to Luther, immediately drawing both guns and firing behind her as they continued to run down the corridor. "You're shooting wide, Alice!" Luther yelled, easily keeping up with her, even with Claire's added weight.

Suddenly, Alice's bullet found the oil barrel she was aiming for. The whole room erupted into flames swallowing the undead with it.

"My mistake," Luther laughed. They were still running full speed. Not taking any chances.

It was quiet when they got to the jail cell. Luther laid Claire down on the small cot, draping a sheet over her to hide her nakedness, but as soon as he did, Alice was dumping her canteen of water onto the redhead's face.

Claire sputtered awake, bolting upright in the bed, the sheet falling away from her heaving chest. "What – what's going on?" The question was directed at Alice, but her eyes quickly found Luther's. She must have noticed her state of undress because she pulled the sheet up around her.

"Claire," Alice whispered. "You blacked out. Claire, what happened in Alaska?"

Claire shook her head. "Alice you know I don't remember that. I've told you."

Alice exchanged a glance with Luther. She was beginning to have suspicions that the drug Umbrella had been pumping into Claire's blood may have altered her personality, making it split. She frowned. She hoped it wasn't permanent. "Claire, when we were in the showers, you remembered me. You remembered Alaska. You said I had sent you all to your deaths…"

The redhead's face was a mask of confusion. "I don't remember. I don't remember how I got here. The last thing I remember is – " Her eyes went wide. "Alice what was that thing?"

Alice dipped her head. "As far as I can tell, it's something infected with a new strain of the T-Virus, or…" she trailed off not wanting to scare Claire with her theory that the creatures may be evolving. "I don't know really."

She could hear voices coming down the corridor, no doubt drawn by the sounds of explosions. "Claire, get some clothes on. Luther can you head them off until she's dressed?" The tall man nodded.

Claire pulled her clothes on and turned to the older woman. "Alice I – in the showers – when we – "

"Claire there's no time." She noted the hurt look on the redhead's face. "We'll talk about it, I promise, but now we have to get out of here before more of those things come crawling up out of the ground."

Claire nodded.

They gathered up their packs and weapons and met the others in the hallway. Alice took the lead. "We've got to move fast."

Luther followed close behind. "Where are you going?"

Alice smiled. "We're going to see if pretty boy down there really knows a way out of here."

Bennett was obviously furious. "No way! That's a high security cell; no telling what he's done. Can't we just take the plane?"

Alice shook her head. "There's not enough room to carry everyone."

Bennett pushed forward. "We can't all die down here! Some of us have to make it to Arcadia! We'll draw straws."

Alice turned and glared at him. "No one gets left behind. Not on my watch."

She pushed into the room with Chris's cell. Luther handed her the key and she opened the door. Chris stepped out and went right to Bennett, inches away from his face. "Boo!"

Bennett yelped and stumbled back. The others laughed quietly at his reaction. Chris turned to Alice, but before he spoke he went dead still. Face a mask of shock. "Claire?!"

"Chris!" Claire leapt into the man's arms hugging him fiercely. Alice couldn't help the pang of jealousy she felt. _What if he's…_ she didn't allow herself to finish the thought.

Claire was nearly in tears. "I never thought I'd see you again." She buried her face in the man's thick neck. Alice felt her insides twist. She looked away. _Couldn't last forever. You knew that. You're a freak. She deserves normal._ She shook the thoughts from her head. Frowning, she turned back to the reunion.

Chris wrapped his bulky arms even tighter around the redhead. "It would take more than the end of the world to keep me from my baby sister." He smiled.

That's when it hit Alice. She recalled in the desert Claire had briefly told her about an older brother who went off to join the S.T.A.R.S. She felt silly that she had jumped to conclusions. Claire loved her. At least, she used to love her. Now… she couldn't even remember the older woman. She wished she'd made the connection sooner. They could've all been safe by now.

Claire turned to Alice. "I remember now. What you did for us, in the desert. I remember everything, up until – until Las Vegas."

Alice smiled. It was definitely a start.

Angel put a beefy hand on Claire's shoulder. "You okay now? Can I get you anything?"

Claire nodded. "Yeah, a gun. Large caliber. Automatic."

Alice grinned. "It's good to have you back."

Claire smiled at the older woman before turning back to Chris. "Well let's see this magical way out, big bro."

* * *

The group stood before a door large enough to drive a tank through. They were in the courtyard now and the only thing keeping the army of undead away was the prison fence and a highly armored gate. Chris grinned. "Behind this door is an Urban Pacification Vehicle. The prison kept it in case of a serious riot. Eighteen wheeler, steel plated, seats twenty, water cannon, twelve tons of fun."

Claire smiled at her brother, then glanced at the gate where the giant of a man stood with an axe as big as a Harley. "We better hurry."

Angel broke off the lock and they hauled the door up to find the U.P.V. – with the engine hanging on a chain above it. Alice could see everyone's faces fall.

"How long would that take to fix?" Crystal asked.

Angel shook his head. "I mean, I could probably have it running in a couple days but uh…" he trailed off.

Alice smirked. "Are you kidding? With Claire back now we'll be on the road in an hour or so." She grinned at the redhead, who lifted an eyebrow.

"You may overestimate my abilities just a tad Alice."

Alice grinned. "Get your hands dirty girl." She could see Claire's blush even as the redhead turned away. Chris must have noticed too, because he turned to Alice, cocking up a dark brow. Alice shrugged, but a smirk tugged at the corner her lips.

* * *

Claire worked on the engine as fast as she could. With her and Angel together, they were making fine progress. About an hour into the process, they heard a loud bang. Metal against metal.

Alice turned to find the Axe Man hauling the huge weapon around for another swing at the gate. "I think we may be running out of time kids," she called to Claire and Angel. "How much longer do you need?"

"Ten minutes. Tops," Claire called back.

Alice stared at the gate, calmly it would appear to outsiders, but inside she was anxious. She knew she would never be able to fight that monstrous thing without using her abilities. And if the giant got in, then the army of undead behind him would get in as well. She was _positive_, even with her powers, that she couldn't fight the giant and keep the survivors safe from the horde.

Claire was just putting the finishing touches on the engine when the gates burst open. In swarmed the throng of walking decay, like flies drawn to a rotting carcass. Alice lunged forward putting herself between the undead and the survivors. Her eyes went hot as she forced a shield up in place of the gate. The undead pushed against her mind, but she held them back easily. Her abilities were getting easier and easier to use. With time, she had developed more power.

She could hear the shocked gasps and murmurs behind her, but she paid no attention to them. She forced the wall to remain steadfast. It didn't take long for the Axe Man to join. Alice watched as his heavy weapon lifted above his head. She mentally readied herself for the blow, but _nothing_ could have prepared her for the pain it sent straight through her head. Agony exploded through her body as her nociceptors were firing at random. Her brain felt like someone had shoved a hot iron spike right through her forehead.

She could feel blood trickling from her nose. Her eyes filled with red and her ears were gurgling. Something was definitely not right. She wouldn't last another blow like that. She faintly heard the engine of the U.P.V. firing up. The gargantuan lifted his axe one more time preparing his final swing. She forced everything she had into keeping the weapon from crushing her, but she felt her consciousness slipping away. The edges of her vision started to blur. She silently apologized to Claire and the others for failing, as she closed her eyes, dropped the shield and fell to her knees.

Suddenly, loud banging noises were coming from behind her. She opened her eyes and watched as pieces of the creatures flesh tore from his body. Alice backed away turning to find Claire and Chris Redfield giving the Axe Man all they could. Claire's face twisted with pain when she saw Alice's condition, but she didn't falter in her unwavering assault on the giant.

Luther and Crystal were firing at the horde of undead that were making their way in the small spaces the giant's body left in the gate. Alice quickly put the shield back up behind the Axe Man. _This_ she could hold. The pain was a dull throbbing sensation just behind her eyes now, but she wouldn't let that shield down for the life of her.

She glanced back to Claire and Chris, steadily backing away from the slowly advancing giant. They ejected their clips almost simultaneously, sending another one home with the fluid movements that only came with years of practice. Alice couldn't help the smile on her face.

They fired at his head until there was almost nothing left, and still he kept inching forward. He lifted the axe once more, prepared to annihilate the two, when what was left of his head exploded in a mess of silver confetti. Quarters rained down to the concrete around the creature as he fell to his knees and finally came to an earth shuddering halt against the ground.

Claire turned to look at Alice curiously. Alice smiled. "Ran out of shotgun shells in Tokyo," the older woman mused. "Had to improvise." Claire shook her head in awe.

The three ran to the vehicle Angel had pulled out of the garage and climbed in. Everyone was already seated. "Let's roll," Alice said calmly.

Angel punched the petal and huge armored truck tore through what was left of the gates. They plowed through the army of undead like they were made of clay. They continued down what was left of Highway 101, mowing down anything that got in their path. Angel glanced over at Alice. "Think you can get that radio working? Might as well see if we can pick up anyone else while we're indestructible."

Alice sighed. Someone _always_ had to go and break the cardinal rule of horror movies…

* * *

_A/N: Ah! It's so true…someone really does always break the cardinal rule of horror movies. I always want to slap that person in the back of the head…_

_Review Responses:_

_mickelus – I'm glad you like Claire's alter-ego! I was a little worried about the concept, but it seems to be a hit. Yay! I will say, that Claire's strength and fighting have nothing to do with swapping bodily fluids with Alice, and sadly, K-Mart will have no super powers either, but she will be more badass in this one. :-) Janice will be in this story, but she's still not a main character. I have other plans for K-Mart ;-)_

_xjadedjoy – So glad you're liking the story. Will try to keep this one updated as often as the last one, but I just started Grad school, so… we shall see lol_

_poynton90 – Haha, I know right. Wendell was such a creeper! Totally deserved his fate. I have much more drama in store for you. I promise :-)_

_the lucky three leaf clover – Haha, you're not a bad person! No one wants Claire to hate Alice…she doesn't really hate her. She's just angry. But we'll see what will transpire when she finally does get them back._

_Cookie – Haha, you will see if you continue reading, that I am the master of the cliff hanger lol just ask my loyal readers who had to deal with my last story LMAO But thanks for the review, I hope the cliffies keep you coming back for more ;-)_

_alex dee – Oh trust me, Alice was more than pissed, but she would've stopped Claire anyway. She wants her to remember first ;-)_

_Soccerari0476 – Thanks for the review! Hope to keep you coming back. Welcome to the madness ;-)_

_123a456e – Hahahaha, I am the mistress of Awkward lol. Yeah, too bad Claire's alter is mad at Alice, but don't expect a reconciliation any time soon. That is one angry woman ;-)_

_ShadowCub – More is served! ;-) Filters?_

_WolfDragonGod – Hey! Thanks for the review, and welcome to the crazy :-) I haven't quite decided if I'm going to get back to the Claire/Alice/K-Mart. I have introduced someone new to K-Mart in this story. You'll meet her soon ;-)_

_DalekSec-kmz – Oh you know I love spoiling you ;-) Glad you enjoyed the chapters. I'll keep them coming. More action. More "action" and more characters soon!_

_Rainbow Unicorn – Hey! Couple days late! But I made it. Hope you enjoy!_

_KungfuKia – Hey! Welcome back! I'm glad you like the story! I've got to catch myself up on yours, I've been out of the country for a while, backpacking, so it was hard to find wifi around. But I'll get back on schedule soon hopefully._


	8. Chapter 8

_Review Responses:_

_At the end._

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or storyline from Resident Evil. Just the thoughts swirling around my head that Alice and Claire are perfect for each other..._

* * *

Chris POV

Chris sat in the second row of seats in the U.P.V. eyes trained on the mysterious woman who had just, for all intents and purposes, saved their asses. Claire was beside him and he glanced at his sister who was blatantly staring at Alice's profile. The woman was completely unaware of the combined Redfield attention as she tinkered with the radio, trying to bring it to life.

Chris glanced back at Claire. Something was definitely up between those two, and he was going to get to the bottom of it. "So uh, Alice. How'd you meet my sister?"

Alice was quiet for a few moments before answering. Her voice was calm, words calculated. The voice of someone who was well trained in the art of lying. "I ran across her convoy in the Mojave Desert just under Vegas about two years ago." She paused, before continuing. "Stuck with them for a while, then sent them in search of Arcadia. At the time, we thought it was a town in Alaska."

Chris thought that was the end of the answer until Claire chimed in. "She's being modest. She saved our lives. We wouldn't even be here if it weren't for Alice."

Chris lifted a dark brow at his sister.

"She fought off an entire swarm of infected crows by herself. And then she saved K-Mart in…" she trailed off. "K-Mart." Her voice was full of pain. "God I hope she made it to the Arcadia."

Chris reached across the seat and took his sister's hand. "I'm sure she's fine Claire. Who is, um, K-Mart again?"

The redhead smiled. "A kid I picked up outside of Raccoon City during the initial outbreak. After I failed to save the first one I found, I kind of vowed to never let K-Mart out of my sight. I guess I failed again." She shook her head, face pained. "I hope to God that kid made it to that boat. Well, I guess she's not a kid anymore."

Chris noted the light blush on his sister's face and narrowed his eyes. Just _what_ had Claire been up to during the apocalypse? "How old is this kid?"

Claire glared at him; obviously she knew he'd picked up on something. "She'd be nineteen now. Almost twenty."

Chris's face contorted with confusion. "How long has it been? How old are you Claire? Dude," he paused. "How old am I?"

Claire laughed and from the front of the vehicle he could hear Alice's soft chuckle as well.

"Well I'm twenty-four, so that would make you, um, an old man." She winked at him.

"Well, when the outbreak first hit, I never thought I'd see thirty, so I guess I'm doing well."

Alice turned in her seat. "I hate to break up memory lane, but do either of you think you could do any better at this than I'm doing? Because right now, I think it can possibly fry eggs and that's about it."

Chris grinned. "Yeah, I know a thing or two about electronics. Let me take a stab at it. Trade ya places?" His eyes glanced at Claire and he smirked at the older woman. Alice's gaze followed his and lingered for just a second before looking back to find his smirk. She rolled her eyes at his obvious knowledge that something was going on between them. Her gentle shake of the head was simply proof.

He climbed into the front and began tugging at wires. He glanced back to find his sister and Alice locked in a staring contest. It appeared the two were lost in some form of silent communication. He pulled out a pair of leathermans and began stripping wires.

A sudden jolt went up his arm and he yelped dropping the radio into his lap. He looked up and smiled sheepishly. "Wrong wire," he said shakily, picking the radio back up. He twisted two wires together and static burst through the silence of the U.P.V.

He grinned up at Angel. "Success! We have communications." He picked up the microphone of the CB and pushed the talk button. "This is Chris Redfield. Currently in Los Angeles, Highway 101, mile marker 87, we are traveling in a heavily armored vehicle headed for the Arcadia, a safe haven. If there's anybody out there, we can provide shelter and safety."

They waited anxiously for any responses. They had almost given up hope when a woman's voice broke through the static. "Chris Redfield. We are a small group of survivors barricaded on the roof of Los Angeles Preparatory School. Mostly children, and myself. We are in urgent need of evacuation, but I must warn you," the voice paused. "We are quiet surrounded by infected creatures. Any support you can provide would be – beyond reimbursement."

Angel looked over. "LA Prep is only a few blocks inland. What do you say?"

"No way!" Bennett cried from the back. "We're not going on a suicide mission to pick up a bunch of sniveling brats. We go to the coast. We find a boat. And we get to the Arcadia."

Chris was about to answer when Claire turned in her seat and punched the man square in the face knocking him unconscious. "Anyone else think we should leave them to die?" she asked venomously.

Everyone shook their heads. "Good, it's settled then."

Chris pushed the talk button again. "This is Chris Redfield. Stay put, we're on our way to you now."

The woman's voice cut through the static again. "I cannot even begin to express my gratitude Chris Redfield. We'll be waiting."

They made their way into the city again. The streets here were eerily vacant. It wasn't until they neared the school building that they realized why. It looked as if every undead for miles was huddled around the school in a huge undulating mass of decaying bodies. "She wasn't kidding about being surrounded."

"How are we going to get in there?" Luther asked. He had been silent up until this point.

Alice smiled. "Just get as close to the building as you can, Angel. I have an idea."

She began rummaging through her pack and pulled out the grenade launcher. Chris cocked an eyebrow at the older woman and her grin widened. "How far do you think that is up there?"

Chris looked up. The building was three stories. "I'd say about forty feet, give or take a few. Why? What's you're plan?"

Alice pulled a length of rope from her pack and began tying it off to an empty grenade casing. "I was saving this to make another acid round, but I guess its number is up." She reached in, grabbed a handful of quarters and began stuffing them into the small hole that was drilled into casing. She covered the hole with duct tape and loaded the quarter-filled case into the launcher. She tied the other end of the rope to the grenade launcher's stock and clicked the chamber closed.

Chris grinned. If he hadn't have picked up on Claire's attraction to Alice earlier, he would've just fallen in love with the woman. "You're kidding me right? Will that really work?"

Alice's smile was predatory. She raised an eyebrow at the older Redfield. "In theory…"

The older woman opened the roof hatch on the U.P.V. and climbed out, Chris following behind her for back up. He looked down at the swarm of undead trying to climb onto the vehicle with them. The slick, steel walls offered them no purchase and they remained on the ground.

"Angel," Alice called down. "Go out over the radio and tell them to move to the far right side of the roof and to expect a metal casing to land next to them. Tell them to grab it immediately before it can fall from the roof, and to tie it off to something that will hold the weight of a fully grown adult human." Then she paused and mumbled. "Well, a fully grown adult at least…"

Angel picked up the radio. "Ma'am, we're in front of the school. No way to get in through the building, we're coming up the side. Get everyone to the far right side of the roof. We'll be shooting up a shot line. Don't be alarmed, but when it hits the roof, you have to grab it before it falls down. We've only got one shot at this."

"I understand. We'll be ready," came the reply.

Alice took aim dead center of the roof. She gave the group a few moments to move out of the way before pointing the grenade launcher at the railing and firing. The casing sailed through the air and over the edge of the roof.

Chris watched as the rope began to fall back toward them. _Someone better grab that thing fast._

Finally the rope stopped and pulled tight.

Angel pressed the talk button once more. "Now tie the end of the rope to something that will hold the weight of an adult. We're sending someone up to you now."

The radio was silent for a few minutes. Static crackled as the woman came back to them. "I've got the roped tied off to the support railing around the AC units. It's bolted down to the concrete, not loose at all. Tell whoever is coming that I used to be a girl scout, so they can trust my knot."

Chris could hear the smile in the woman's voice even through the static on the radio. He grinned. He looked at Alice. "Well, rock, paper, scissors?"

Alice looked at him as if he were crazy. "As if I'd let you go up there. Claire would murder me." She grabbed hold of the rope and gave it a good tug. It pulled tight. No give. "Wish me luck." She winked at him before climbing up the rope effortlessly.

He shook his head. Alice was definitely not human, and while that thought should have made him extremely nervous, especially since she seemed to have a very close relationship with his baby sister, instead, it made him feel even more at ease.

He watched as the mysterious woman made it to the top and crawled over the railing.

Claire popped her head out from the hatch below. "Keep an eye on her Chris," she whispered. "She likes to play hero sometimes."

Chris laughed. Yeah, his little sister definitely had it bad. He wondered if they had actually made the connection or if the two women were still lost in the early stages of platonic confusion.

* * *

_A/N: So a little chapter from Chris's POV. This story will have multiple points of view from various characters. I decided to stray from just the original three. As always, let me know what you think. :-D_

_Review Responses:_

_mickelus – I know right?! Which is why I liked the original screenplay better. In the screenplay (before they cut it) Claire remembered Chris. I thought that made for a better story. The triggering of her memories though, I feel like it would have to be something extremely familiar and attached to a lot of memories, so I felt her brother would work nicely. :-) glad you approve!_

_123a456e – Haha! Yeah, I always felt like it would take a certain type of person to crawl through a tunnel left by a zombie. Alice would. MAYBE Chris and Claire, but the rest? Yeah right! Plus, I needed a way to introduce my new characters ;-)_

_poynton90 – Well, I guess if we're going by "Scream" standards, then sure. I always believed that the cardinal rule of horror movies was not to state the obvious. "I'll be right back" when leaving a room is obvious. "At least we're in a indestructible vehicle" again, obvious. "Things couldn't get any worse" – way obvious. LoL. As for originality, it's pretty much all off the beaten path from here. Hope you enjoy ;-)_

_the lucky three leaf clover – Well, if you consider the fact that Luther (until now) has never seen Alice shoot, it wouldn't be a stretch for him to assume she's a lousy shot ;-) But, don't make assumptions too soon, it hasn't all started falling apart…yet. ;-)_

_angelsgir – Finally! Someone who appreciates my cliffhangers! Awesome. You're my new favorite ;-) But don't tell! _

_seth – Hehe, yeah I had to throw that in there. Not really as a foreshadowing, but just for shits and giggles. LoL_

_Cookie – I'm glad you're enjoying the fic! I could never kill K-Mart. (Or could I? Just to fuck with your head?) She'll be in the story very soon. I promise!_

_DalekSec-kmz – Yay! Someone who agrees that crawling through a zombie tunnel may not be the healthiest decision! You'll meet the new characters (in person) soon! I hope you like the twist ;-)_

_Kungfu Kia – Oh trust me. Alter-ego Claire ONLY shows up in the worst possible moments ;-) and she is far from finished._

_WolfDragonGod – Glad you like it! Only gets crazier at we go along ;-)_

_alex dee – Oh K-Mart is coming. I promise! Soon!_

_PrincessLia – Hey it's all good. We all get caught up in real life sometimes ;-) I know I do anyway Glad you enjoyed the chapters. And the fact that Claire is all badass again. Haha, Chris's reaction may surprise you. He can be a big softy ;-)_


	9. Chapter 9

_Review Responses:_

_At the end._

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or storyline from Resident Evil. Just the thoughts swirling around my head that Alice and Claire are perfect for each other..._

* * *

Alice's POV

Alice climbed up and over the railing. She spotted the small group of people, mostly young kids, a few older teenagers. The woman stepped forward and held her hand out to Alice. "Helena Harper, thank you so much for you help."

Alice shook the woman's hand. "Don't thank me yet. We're still on the roof." She looked around and noticed that the roof's access was barricaded, by a forklift that was parked in front of it, holding it tightly shut against the undead. "Nice work." She nodded toward the door.

She looked around for anything that could be used as a harness, but upon finding nothing, slid her guns out of her holsters and tucked them into the waistband of her pants, wiggling out of the holsters. "We'll use this as a harness while I lower everyone down to the U.P.V."

Helena nodded, obviously impressed with Alice's quick thinking.

Alice held the holster out to the woman. "I'll get you down first. That way I'm not lowering the children down to strangers."

Helena took the holster belt and slid it on. Alice tied the end of the rope to her and began lowering her to the roof of the truck. When she saw that the woman was with standing on her own, Chris helping her slide out of the harness, she looked at the rest of the group. She called the youngest looking one next. A boy who couldn't have been over seven or eight years old.

She pulled the rope back up and helped the boy into the holster, lowering him gently over the side. She went in order of youngest to oldest. When she got to the last girl, she was probably seventeen or eighteen. The girl was hesitant.

Alice held out her hand. "Come on. I won't hurt you. I promise."

The girl looked at her strangely, before inhaling deeply. "You're infected." She paused. "A lot."

Alice bristled. She breathed in the air around the girl. She smelled odd. Not like the T-Virus at all, but strangely similar at the same time. She definitely wasn't human. "What are you?" Alice asked. The time for tact had come and passed shortly after the virus had escaped.

"A Capricorn," the girl answered without a trace of a smile. "You?"

Alice narrowed her eyes. "I don't have time for games little girl. Do you want off of this roof or not?"

The girl's face lost a bit of the smugness and she nodded.

"Good," Alice said. Then they both jumped as a loud banging noise came from the door. The forklift shifted as the door opened a crack. Alice could see bony fingers slipping out through the crack, grasping, in search of the flesh they could smell. "Let's go."

The girl quickly put on the holster and Alice began lowering her down to the others. Another loud banging noise caused Alice to turn. The undead had gotten through. She looked at the distance between the teenager and the U.P.V. She would never make it. She didn't have time to untie the rope so she pulled her kukri out and sliced through her only way down.

She watched the girl plummet toward the roof of the truck, screaming along the way. She saw Chris move to break the girl's fall, but before she could get to the truck, Alice slowed her movement with a slight pull of her mind. She stayed only long enough to see that Chris had is hands on the girl before she turned to face the horde.

Alice pulled her guns from her waistband and started firing into the crowd of undead. There were too many. Her eyes burned as she fired a blast into the crowd sending bodies flying over the edge of the roof and to the ground below. Still more infected were filing onto the roof through the now open door. Finally, she saw what had made the loud banging noise.

A sickly, yellowish brute of a beast walked out of the door. _Holy shit,_ Alice's brain screamed. She couldn't let anything else onto this roof or she'd never stand a chance. She fired two shots into the fuel tank of the forklift. The explosion wasn't huge, but it made the door to the roof collapse in, sealing the remaining undead within.

The lumbering creature moved slowly at least. Alice was able to take in his visage. His left arm was no more than a stub that hung limply at his side, but his right arm was huge, almost as wide as his beefy torso. Through his yellow, translucent skin she could see thick, bloated veins running around his arm and across his chest. His face was a canvas of peeling skin and torn muscle. His jaw hung open flaccidly – broken. The only thing still holding it attached to his face was the thick cord of tendon.

She fired her first shot, blowing the rest of his jaw from his face until only the top of his mouth remained. At least he wouldn't be biting anyone now. She backed toward the wall that housed the AC units. She didn't like being cornered, but at least this way she knew she didn't have to watch her back as well. She fired another blast into the crowd. It barely even registered with the monstrous creature slowly walking toward her, but it sent another wave of undead flying off the roof. A few less that she would have to deal with.

When the creature was about ten feet away she pointed her gun to blow the top of his head off, when out of nowhere, his one good arm shot out at her. Stretching beyond reason across the distance and pinning her against the wall. All of the air left her body. Suddenly, her back was leaving the wall and she was quickly being dragged back toward the creature.

The look in the creature's pale, watery eyes was pure hunger. Like if she hadn't have blown his jaw off, his teeth would be sinking into her neck right at that very moment. Finally, anger filled his eyes and Alice was sailing backward into the wall again.

She felt her ribs splinter inside of her. The huge thing's hand was on her face, intent on crushing her skull. The undead horde was closing in around her and she sent out another, much weaker blast because the pain in her skull was keeping her from focusing. She had to get out of here. Or she was going to die. He advanced until he was standing in front of her, pressing her against the wall even more forcefully.

She unsheathed her kukri and swung it at an angle. It lodged itself deep into the creature's left arm socket. The thing howled in pain and its grip on Alice's skull slackened. She ripped the blade from the monsters side and slid out from his grasp. She ran to the edge of the roof, taking in her surroundings. She didn't know how far that thing's arm would actually stretch so she kept a good distance from it. She noticed the next building was about twenty yards away, but it was a good fifteen feet lower than the one she stood on. She'd have to risk it.

Her chest ached when she breathed and she knew most of her ribs were broken. She backed up for a running start. She could hear the huge creature groan and knew that his arm was about to shoot out after her. She took off in a sprint, at the edge of the roof she planted her feet and pushed away from the concrete.

She sailed over the throng of undead below. She was only barely going to make it. Her arms wrapped around the edge of the railing as her body slammed hard against the brick wall, the pain in her ribs almost making her lose her grip. She looked over her shoulder to see the giant hand grasping at the place she had just been standing. Countless undead had followed her over the edge of the building and fallen to their deaths. Others were still falling over the edge. She smiled.

Everything hurt as she pulled herself onto the roof. She looked down and tried to catch Angel's eye. She must have, because the U.P.V. slowly started making its way forward. When it was right underneath her, all she could do was jump. Luckily this building wasn't as tall as the other one, but she knew it was going to hurt.

Chris still stood on the top of the truck, waiting for her. She stood on the edge of the building, breathing deeply. Finally, she stepped off the ledge and dropped to the truck below. Her feet hit the steel beneath her and her legs buckled. She felt the snap of both of her shins and a tearing of tendons in her knees. The pain in her back was unbearable.

Her body rested upon the roof of the U.P.V. Claire was at her side in a second. "My God. Alice!" She was hysterical. "Chris we have to get her inside. You have to reset these bones before they can heal this way." Alice saw the redhead's pleading eyes. "She heals really quickly, Chris."

The man nodded. "Alright, grab her legs." He paused sliding his hands underneath Alice's shoulders. "This isn't going to be pleasant for her. She's going to need you." Alice saw the look that passed between the two siblings. Chris had definitely picked up on their odd relationship.

Claire nodded. Grabbing Alice's legs around her ankles. That's when the woman noticed she couldn't feel Claire's hands on her. She tried to move her feet, but couldn't. The panic on her face must have been obvious because Claire was leaning in and cradling her face in warm hands. "It's going to be okay Alice. Everything is going to be fine."

Alice shook her head. "Claire, I can't feel my legs."

The redhead's eyes widened. "Get her below Chris. Now!"

They carried Alice to the hatch. Claire went through the opening first and Chris lowered Alice's body down through the hole and into the redhead's arms. Claire laid her body out across the seat and Chris climbed in after them, shutting and locking the hatch.

"Alice? Are you still with me?" she asked in a whisper. Alice nodded weakly. "Alice, Chris is going to set the bones in your legs okay? So they don't heal improperly." Another weak nod.

Alice looked down to see Chris's beefy hands twisting the bones in her legs back into place. She knew that she should logically be feeling an intense pain right now, but she felt nothing except for the sharp pangs in her chest every time she took a breath. "What does it matter? They're useless now."

Claire shook her head, on the verge of tears. "Alice, no, you'll heal. You _always_ heal. Tomorrow, or maybe the next day, you'll be fine. You're going to be fine."

Alice looked at the redhead exhaustively. "Claire, I've never broken anything as important and my spine before." She breathed in deeply. "You know what happens to the T-Virus infected creatures when their spines are severed?"

Claire nodded, her face filled with agony. "But you're – you're different."

Alice shook her head. "Claire, we both know I'm not so different."

Claire narrowed her eyes. "You're not dead right now. That means you're different. Now shut up and heal already."

Alice couldn't help but chuckle. The movement sent pain all through her chest and ribcage. Claire's face shifted to concern. "You need to rest Alice. We're going to head to the beach now and look for a boat that we can take to the Arcadia."

Claire turned back to their newest members. Alice wondered if the woman would be falling straight back into her role as convoy leader. With all the Type A personalities in the vehicle, she was still betting on the redhead.

Claire held out her hand to the woman. "Claire Redfield. This is my brother Chris, and my par – " she paused blushing. "Um this is Alice."

The brunette woman took Claire's hand in a strong grip. "Helena Harper. Pleasure." She motioned to the children behind her, starting with the youngest. "This is Billy, Susan, Todd, Kevin, and – "

"Sherry," Claire broke in. Her voice was a whisper. "Sherry? My God!"

"Claire!" The teenager threw herself into Claire's arm. "Oh my God. I thought – I thought you were dead!"

The redhead hugged the girl fiercely. "I thought _you_ were dead."

Alice watched the reunion with only a few thoughts going through her head. _Where did Claire know this kid from? What exactly was Sherry infected with? And finally, K-Mart was not going to be happy to know that there was another teen in Claire's life._

Claire and Sherry caught up for a few minutes before the redhead crawled back into the seat with Alice. She gave the younger woman a half-smile and closed her eyes again.

* * *

_A/N: OMG! Poor Alice! I hope she recovers! Oh who the fuck am I kidding, you guys know I would never paralyze Alice… or would I? Maybe it's high time Claire pick up the slack in being the hero and saving Alice…_

_Review Responses:_

_the lucky three leaf clover – Well, I wouldn't say it "all" went wrong. Just, a LOT went wrong. But what kind of author would I be if there was no conflict in my story? A lousy one – that's what kind. Chris is always right. I mean, who better to break out of prison than a guy known for Prison Break? Am I right?_

_alexis payton – Hahah, I should make a "kids don't try this at home" label. :-/ Trust me, there is still lots more alter ego to be had. _

_mickelus – Yeah, I know, poor guns and ammo, but I can't have them fully loaded, it would make things too easy. Plus, I didn't want to kill Crystal ;-) I liked her. Haha, yeah, Chris is a smart dude. I don't think he would miss that type of chemistry, even if it weren't his sister. Plus, they make it pretty obvious. Can't kill off Bennett just yet, I still need him ;-)_

_Cookie – Well, not the NEXT chapter, but I promise, soon. _

_Rainbow Unicorn – Hahaha, well thank you. I appreciate the praise :-)_

_poynton90 – Thanks! Trying to keep it action packed :-)_

_DalekSec-kmz – I love twists! I like making my readers go "WTF?!" Alice is a total BAMF. Honestly, I just sit down and play the dialogue out in my head. "What would 'I' say or do in this situation" and go from there, putting it more into character style. LoL_

_Angelsgir – Hey no problem. I write for enjoyment, not for reviews, so I'm glad you enjoyed! Claire still has a ways to go, but she'll come around. Sort of. Haha, I don't know, in another world I can see Chris and Alice as like a Mr. and Mrs. Smith type relationship LMAO_

_WolfDragonGod – I'm glad you like my Alice. She's a smart ass bitch with a take-no-prisoners attitude. I love her…_

_123a456e – Well, you will see very soon, how the others will react. ;-)_

_Guest – I promise K-Mart is coming soon! And once she's back, she's back in force!_

_kellzbellz – I think everyone hated Bennett. He played such a believable asshole I think if I ever met the actor in person I would want to punch him. Man we have a lot of K-Mart lovers here LoL We shall see. We shall see who she pairs with, but yes, she has a love interest all of her own in this fic. _

_alex dee - :-D Chris is a smart cookie. He knows what's up ;-)_

_ShadowCub – I agree. Let's do that in the next couple of chapters. I'll take the right leg, you can have the left._


	10. Chapter 10

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or storyline from Resident Evil. Just the thoughts swirling around my head that Alice and Claire are perfect for each other..._

* * *

Claire's POV

She knew that Alice could feel the truck move as it rolled over countless undead bodies. The jerking motion that the obstacles sent through her body must have been excruciating. Claire knew she was right though. Alice healed much more quickly in her sleep, but there was no way she was going to get to sleep with her ribs the way they were. She had her eyes closed anyway and pretended for the redhead's sake. Claire knew she was faking.

When they arrived at the beach, it was oddly enough, empty. Not even a few undead were trudging through the sand.

"I see three speedboats moored up to the piers," Chris said anxiously. "I can hotwire those with no problems. If they still have gas."

"Alright," Claire agreed. "Take the others and load them up. I'm going to wait here with Alice. She needs to heal before we're going to make the attempt. I'll be there shortly after."

Chris nodded and everyone unloaded from the U.P.V. She was somewhat surprise that her brother had conceded so easily. He didn't even try to argue.

Luther and Angel said their goodbyes to Claire, and Crystal pulled her in for a big hug. Bennett, and Kim of course, just walked off in the direction of the boats. When everyone was gone, Claire turned to Alice. "You don't have to pretend anymore. I know you're not asleep."

Alice cracked an eye open at the redhead. "Busted. I couldn't sleep with all that bumping around."

Claire pushed a few strands of errant hair from the brunette's face. "I know. That's why we're staying behind. Rest now. I'll watch over you."

Alice stared up at the redhead. "I should be watching over you. You shouldn't be staying behind. It isn't safe for you here. I can't protect you like this."

Claire's fingers cupped Alice's face. "Alice, you don't always have to be the hero you know. Sometimes it's okay to let people take care of you." She traced across Alice's full lips with her thumb and watched the woman's eyes flutter shut. She knew by her body's reaction that she and Alice had at least been semi intimate with one another, but she couldn't remember any specific occurrences. Just flashes of her back against a hard wall. And maybe that wasn't even a memory. Maybe that was just wishful thinking…

She wished the memories would come back. What if she and Alice had never been given the chance to – to make love? She didn't want to rush into something in the present that they had never gotten to in the past. She thought back to the shower. They had definitely gotten that far at least. But Alice had been about to stop her before that asshole Wendell had interrupted them. What if they'd never had the chance?

As she stared at Alice's face, willing the woman to heal, a brief flash of memory returned. Alice, weak and wounded, going off to fight a huge lizard-like monster. Clones of Alice all around falling to the creature. She remembered pulling out of knife and slicing her wrist, forcing Alice to drink – for strength, and to heal. _That's it! _she thought to herself.

She didn't know if her blood actually speeded Alice's healing process or if it just gave the woman strength, but she had to try. Even if she just gave her strength, it would help her body heal itself. It _had_ to. Alice probably knew the answer to that question. Of course Alice was never going to ask for her blood. She'd have to offer it.

She slowly pulled out her tactical knife and made a long cut on the inside of her wrist. Alice's eyes snapped open at the scent of her blood. "Claire, why?"

Claire made a shushing sound and lowered her wrist to the woman's lips. "Just heal Alice. I can't lose you."

Alice's face was one of despair. She didn't want to do it, Claire could tell, but she needed to. She needed it to heal. "Go on Alice."

She felt the older woman's lips close around the cut, then she felt the tingling pull of blood leaving her body. When the cut had closed under the healing enzymes of Alice's mouth, the woman stopped lapping at the cut. Claire pulled her arm away and gazed down at Alice, eyes full of love.

She softly traced her fingers along the brunette's cheekbones. Over the slant of her jaw. Down the curve of her neck. Across a collarbone and over a long, jagged scar on her shoulder. Everything about Alice was beautiful. Alice's eyes opened to meet hers and the older woman smiled. Claire's eyes danced between Alice's blue-green ones and her full lips. Finally, she leaned down and pressed her lips against the older woman's forehead. Then she jerked away suddenly when the hatch opened again.

Chris was at them grinning from ear to ear. Claire wondered just how much her brother had seen. She shoved Chris's shoulder. "You scared the shit out of me you big oaf." She glared at him. "Why are you still here? No gas?"

Chris's grin widened. "Nah they're already on their way to the Arcadia. I've got another boat ready for us when Alice is healed enough to go."

Claire shook her head.

"What? You didn't really think I was going to leave my baby sister out here alone when I _just_ found her again did you?" Chris grinned even wider. "You should really lock the hatch next time you're alone in here, by the way. I mean – just for safety purposes and all."

Chris pulled her in for a rib-crushing hug. "I'll keep that in mind, thanks." She looked over at Alice and could see sleep tugging at the older woman's eyes.

Chris had taken Claire's place on the seat at Alice's feet. The redhead carefully lifted the older woman's head and laid it in her lap. Her fingers threaded through Alice's hair in a gentle, soothing motion, the redhead's fingernails softly scraping along the older woman's scalp as she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The next morning Claire was startled awake by a sudden gust of ocean wind. She looked up to find Alice climbing back into the hatch. Fully healed it appeared. Claire smiled at the woman. "Looks like someone made a complete recovery."

Alice beamed. "Yeah well, tell that to my aching body, but yes, it would appear that even a broken spine can't keep me down for very long. Good thing to know."

Claire laughed. "Just because you _know_ that you're going to heal, is no reason to go around putting yourself into situations where you're going to end up with a broken back." She looked pointedly at the brunette. She nudged at Chris with her boot. "Wake up you big oaf."

Chris sent a sleepy glare in her direction, before stretching and finishing his morning ritual with a huge yawn. "Let's get going," Claire urged. "Alice seems to be fine."

Alice reached up to grab the edge of the hatch and winced. "Well, I wouldn't say _fine_ exactly, but I can move." As she lifted herself out of the truck, Claire watched the muscles in her arms strain against her skin. The sight never failed to send a shiver down her spine. When she looked back at Chris he was smirking.

"We're gonna have to have a talk soon little sis. I never gave you my infamous birds and bees speech." He grinned widely at her dismay.

"Chris!" She kicked him. "Shhhhh, she can hear you." She got up to follow Alice out of the hatch. When she exited the U.P.V. the first thing she noticed was Alice's cool smirk and raised eyebrow. _Great_, she thought. She rolled her eyes at the woman.

Chris crawled out. "I'm gonna go get the boat started. You two stay here just in case there's trouble. I don't think Alice is up for a fight quite yet." He winked at the older woman. "Claire, if you hear shots. I'd appreciate a bit of help." He grinned.

Claire nodded. "Be careful, Chris."

Chris's grin faded into a sincere smile. "Always am."

She watched Chris jog off in the direction of the small pier, before turning back to Alice. "You scared me last night. I thought…" She didn't finished.

Alice reached out for Claire's hand, taking it in between her warm fingers. "I couldn't leave you. I'm too damn stubborn for my own good. My number's been up more than once now, and I just keep pushing through because I know you're out there…waiting."

Claire stared into Alice's blue-green eyes. "You know, I _will_ remember you. I mean. I'll remember us. Soon. I can already feel the memories tickling the edges of my brain. And Alice…when I do…" She shook her head. "I feel like we're going to have a _lot_ of catching up to do."

Alice smirked coolly, like the thought of their bodies moving together was just another day in the life of a super woman. Claire couldn't imagine what was going through the older woman's head. "Do you have any idea, the effect you have on me?"

Alice's smirked morphed into the wide grin. "I seem to remember a few of the effects I've had on you, yes."

Claire cried out indignantly as she swatted the older woman's shoulder. "Crude!"

She felt Alice's warm hand clasp onto the back of her neck, tugging her forward. The older woman's face was inches from her own. Alice's breath was fanning against her face. Claire couldn't take her eyes off the brunette's lips, slightly curled at one corner. Finally, she glanced up at Alice's eyes and held the woman's gaze.

Claire leaned in until her forehead was gently resting against Alice's. With a flash of memory she saw herself kneeling in front of the older woman, heads pressed together much in the same way they were now. She could remember the feeling of Alice's chapped lips against her own. She remembered this position.

It was Claire that leaned forward this time. The gentle brush of her lips against Alice's was amazing. The kiss consisted of just a soft press of lips upon lips. There was no urgency, no raw lust, no hot desire bubbling behind their joined mouths.

Alice's warm hand came to rest on Claire's cheek, thumb tickling the redhead's strong jawline. "You're beautiful," the brunette whispered, pulling back from Claire slightly. "I've thought so since the moment I first saw you at that club."

Claire pulled away confused. "Club?" She shook her head, memories flooding her again. "Oh. Oh!" Claire blushed. "I remember." She thought about the couple of years before the outbreak. The mysterious older woman who bought a dance from her every Friday. She'd looked forward to it. Even then, Alice had always looked so haunted. So alone.

Suddenly a different memory popped into her head. K-Mart. In a dusty hotel room, Claire straddling the girl's thighs as she ground her center into K-Mart's. She gasped. "Oh my God. K-Mart? And me?" Her eyes went wide. "Alice, did I – did I cheat on you?"

Alice laughed loudly. She cradled Claire's face in her hands. "Claire, you would never cheat on me. I think you're remembering K-Mart's birthday present. I convinced you it would be a good idea."

Claire shook her head. "You weren't – jealous?"

Alice shook her head. "I care about you Claire. I want to _love_ you, not possess you. You are your own free woman. You loved K-Mart very much. And she loved you. Who was I to get in the way of that?"

Claire stared at the woman in awe. "This all sounds very complicated."

Alice smiled. "It wasn't." The older woman pressed her lips against Claire's again. "Do you remember Vegas yet?"

Claire thought for a moment. Vague, snatches of memory about Vegas had surfaced, but not enough to make a clean picture. She squinted her eyes. "We were – attacked – by – something. Umbrella," her voice went dark. "Umbrella attacked us with – with super-intelligent undead. We lost a lot of people. I shot L.J." She looked away.

"K-Mart got cut and you – " Claire regarded Alice curiously. The older woman's face was passive. She already knew what Claire was going to say. "You drank her blood. You healed the cut." Claire paused. "That was after…" Her voice trailed off. The memories were fuzzy still. She grasped at them, but she couldn't put them all together. She knew she was missing something big. She shook her head. "This is giving me a headache."

Alice smiled sadly at her. She pulled the redhead's face in and pressed her cool lips against Claire's forehead. "Don't strain to think about it. It'll come to you in time."

Claire could hear Chris's heavy footsteps on the packed sand. They paused a few yards away, letting the two women have their moment. She smiled. She loved her brother. He may be gruff and arrogant and headstrong, but he had always taken care of her. She felt so much safer knowing that he was back in her life.

Finally, they pulled away from each other. Claire sent Chris a grateful smile. "Everything good to go?" she called down to him.

Chris closed the distance. "Yeah, we're all set. You gals ready to stop running?"

Alice cocked an eyebrow. "It's a nice thought…"

Claire could hear the reserve in Alice's voice. The older woman was never truly comfortable with the idea of safety and security. Most likely because she had first hand experience with Umbrella. They would never let anything good last for very long.

They got their packs from the U.P.V. and said goodbye to the vehicle that had saved their lives.

Chris navigated the speedboat easily through the calm water. Claire watched as the Arcadia got closer and closer. She allowed herself to feel a little bit of hope as the ship grew so big in her field of vision that it blocked out the rest of the world. Arcadia. Finally.

* * *

_A/N: Well it's about damn time right? Claire's trying so hard to remember everything, but only getting snatches of memories from here and there. I'm sure it's super frustrating!_

_Review Responses:_

WolfDragonGod – Haha, well well, nice to see someone still remembers Reconstruction ;-) Though Alice never used Claire's blood to heal specifically, only to gain strength, she did imply that it would speed her healing.

Rainbow Unicorn – I made you cry? Well that really wasn't the goal. Alice is fine ;-)

mickelus – Hahaha, we shall see, we shall see. If I told you I may ruin the story for all ;-) K-Mart is in the next chapter. So stop biting your fingernails! It's bad for you ;-) Sherry is a character from the video game Resident Evil 2. Claire helps her escape from Raccoon City.

PrincessLia – I know right? Poor K-Mart! Her angst is just going to double, or triple even. LoL

poynton90 – Haha, well I mean, in her defense. She didn't know who she was. I'm glad you weren't expecting Sherry and Helena! It means I have an edge still! Yay ;-)

123a456e – Thanks! :-) I swear more characters show up in the next chapter. Then even more in the chapter after that. I won't keep you waiting much longer! Claire helped Sherry escape from Raccoon City in the video game Resident Evil 2. I've brought a lot more of the video games into this story, so if that confuses you, just ask. I don't mind explaining :-)

Kungfu Kia – Well thank you. I thought Sherry would be fun to write. :-) The creature is actually the Bandersnatch, from the game Code Veronica. It may also be in the animated movie Degeneration, I think it was called, but I don't remember.

the lucky three leaf clover – Haha, you would've definitely remembered killing it if you ever played Code Veronica. It was a bitch! LoL Anyway, of course I would never incapacitate Alice for "too" long. ;-)

Cookie – Hahah, alright, fine. You win. Alice can walk again.. Sheesh. Give a superhero ONE handicap and people crucify you. ;-)

kellzbellz – Well thank you thank you. I try. I love blending the games with the movies, because each have aspects that I love. And with a little imagination, they really can fit together seamlessly. It's cool, Chris loves his sister, he wouldn't do that to her.

ShadowCub – Hahahahaha, yeah…

alex dee – hahaha, well…K-Mart is K-Mart (a badass) but K-Mart is also still K-Mart (compassionate, loving teenager). So there will be no ripping off of heads.


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or storyline from Resident Evil. Just the thoughts swirling around my head that Alice and Claire are perfect for each other..._

* * *

Alice's POV

They stood on the deck of the Arcadia. It was deserted. Not quite the welcoming party Alice had expected, but maybe they were all below deck.

They made their way to the bridge first. She pulled up the computer monitor that displayed the ship's engineering status. It appeared all of the equipment was still functioning. She grinned as she noticed that the fuel levels were at 98 percent.

She saw the VHF radio was still on and displaying the emergency frequency, Channel 16. The microphone was dangling by the chord. _Unusual, _she thought to herself. She walked over and picked it up, cueing the channel and hearing the static. Still functioning. She placed the microphone back on its hook and looked around.

She thumbed through the ship's deck log. The last entry was two days ago.

_May 5__th__ 14:45 – Anchored off Los Angeles in Santa Monica Bay. Boss man wants to see if we can pick up more survivors. Still don't know what he's doing with all of these people. There's no one on this boat except for him and the crew, but the boat provides security from those things. Made another broadcast earlier, no one is responding here. This city is deserted. Only those things are left._

Alice walked over to the chart table and stood beside Claire. The redhead was tracing the course the ship had taken with her finger. "Looks like they took a course all the way down the coast, starting in Alaska and stopping outside of every major port along the way for about two weeks at a time."

"How can you tell?"

She pointed at a small green notebook. "Navigation log. The coordinates for their stops match the coordinates for the ports, and the anchor log is kept for fourteen to eighteen days at a time."

Alice smiled at the younger woman. "Nice work Detective Redfield." She winked at Claire, who shot her a scowl. She gently took Claire's elbow and led her away from the table. "Come on, let's go find the others."

The three made their way through the deserted ship, something akin to dread filling Alice as they walked through corridor after corridor of emptiness.

They went through the abandoned mess hall, opening up cabinets and pantries to find them all still fully stocked with supplies. She grinned at the Redfield siblings. "At least we won't go hungry for a while. Should we fix ourselves something to eat and find the others afterward?"

Chris's stomach growled loudly at the thought of food and she chuckled pulling a few cans out.

"What's on the menu tonight Alice?" the older Redfield questioned.

She grinned again. "Chicken and dumplings, creamed corn and green beans."

She heard Claire's stomach growl this time and she pulled down a couple of pans from the rack above the stove.

When the food was hot, they all sat down around a small table and dug in. Chris was the most audible in his content, slurping down the food like he hadn't eaten in years, but Alice could see the satisfaction on the redhead's face as well. She had to admit, it was the best meal she had had in a while – still not quite as satisfying as Claire's blood had been, of course. She bowed her head to hide the blush she knew she was showing. Luckily the other two were too engulfed in their meal to have noticed.

When they were finished with their food. They set off again, in search of the others. Below deck they came across the hangar bay. Inside, two huge ospreys and a number of speedboats lined the walls. All of them had Umbrella's logo painted on the side. Something was not right. She noticed a control panel and went to pull up the screen. Upon reading the display, she realized she was looking at the ship's inventory of residents.

Something was _definitely_ not right. The list had hundreds of names on it, but this ship was deserted. It couldn't possibly have hundreds of people on board and just by circumstance, none of them happened to be on the upper levels.

She scrolled through until K-Mart's face popped up on the screen. _Dahlia Case. _She heard Claire gasp behind her. "K-Mart."

_Dahlia Case _

_Status: Human – Not infected. Maintained onboard Arcadia – Healthy. _

_Family status: Deceased – perished during the initial outbreak in Raccoon City. _

_Known accomplices: Claire Redfield. Jill Valentine. Angela Ashford. Lloyd Jefferson Wayne III. Betty Douglas. Carlos Olivera. Michael Stevens. Project Alice. _

_Skills: Handy with computers and electronics. _

Alice was able to read K-Mart's vital signs on the screen. It appeared everything was still working properly. Her heart rate and blood pressure were normal. Weight was still normal, so at least she wasn't starving.

Alice nodded and pushed the button that was marked _Release. _ About twenty yards away the deck shifted and a human sized cryo-stasis chamber rose from the tile. K-Mart was inside. She ran to the tube and opened it up, immediately taking in the fact that K-Mart had a scarab device attached to her chest like Claire had had in Alaska, though K-Mart's looked like a newer model.

She saw Claire, still at the control panel, pushing buttons. The scarab detached itself from K-Mart's chest and fell to the deck, lifeless.

K-Mart opened her eyes and peered up at Alice. The girl smiled a weak smile. "Morning Wonderland," she whispered, voice raspy with disuse.

Alice beamed at the younger woman. "You remember me?" She pulled K-Mart into a fierce embrace.

The girl hugged back. "Of course I remember you," she whispered. Then she pulled back from Alice. "I have the worst headache in the history of…ever." She shook her head.

Alice grinned. "It will go away," she said before pulled the girl back into a hug. Finally she released the blonde and K-Mart looked around, her eyes falling on Claire. She ran toward the redhead at full speed, launching herself into the older woman's arms.

Claire caught her easily, wrapping her strong arms around the girl. "Hey you," she said softly, smiling down at K-Mart.

"Hey yourself," the girl replied, eyes drinking in the sight of the convoy leader. Then she took in Chris's burly form, staring blatantly at their display of affection. She pulled away, blushing. Claire must have seen her blush because she stepped toward Chris and pulled him over. "K-Mart, I'd like you to meet Chris. Chris Redfield. My brother."

K-Mart beamed at the older man. "You found him!" She threw herself into Chris's arms. The man wasn't expecting the contact and stumbled backward. K-Mart pulled away grinning sheepishly. "Sorry."

Alice watched as Chris smiled down fondly at the blonde. "No problem kid."

K-Mart scowled at him. "I'm not a kid."

Chris threw up his hands in surrender. "Okay ma'am. Should I call you Mom? Grandma?"

Alice chuckled at them. It appeared there would be no awkward bonding process between the two. Her eyes caught Claire's and she smiled at the redhead. She walked back over to Claire's side and began scrolling through the list of names again. With all of its technology, it appeared there was no _search_ function, so she had to scroll through manually.

She looked at Claire. "This may take a while. You want to take K-Mart to get something to eat?" Claire nodded and the two made their way toward the mess hall. Chris lagged behind for a bit wandering around the room. Finally he came to stand awkwardly beside her as she continued to scroll through the names. "Alice," he squeaked, then cleared his throat. "Was something going on with my sister and the kid?"

Alice paused her scrolling to look up at the man. "It's not really my place to say anything Chris. Things were – complicated in Nevada." She turned back to the screen. He seemed to buy the answer because he fell silent again before wandering off to another room.

She registered the presence before any words were spoken. The hair on the back of her neck stood at attention. She looked up to see that a platform had risen in the middle of the room. On a huge, white throne-like chair sat Albert Wesker.

"It's nice to see you again, Project Alice." Wesker smiled viciously. Two creatures, what used to be Dobermans it appeared, stood growling, on either side of the man. "Down," Wesker said, with authority.

To Alice's surprise, the creatures sat down like obedient pets.

Wesker smirked at Alice's shocked face. "Yes, well, we've made a few alterations to the original virus, as you can see. Thanks to you actually." He paused. "Your blood, Project Alice, has allowed me to put some sense of intelligence back into these creatures. Now…play nicely and I won't have to give them the kill command."

Alice drew her weapon and fired a shot into the first dog before Wesker could even blink, but he was quick with retaliation.

"Kill," he shouted. The other dog was on top of her in a fraction of a second. Its paws meeting her chest as she was propelled backward onto the ground. Her back hit the floor hard, gun flying from her fingertips. "That wasn't playing nicely," Wesker growled through clenched teeth.

She held the dog at bay, but it was unnaturally strong, even for a mutant. She put every ounce of strength she had into keeping the snapping jaws away from her throat. She stared into the all too sentient eyes, filled with hunger. What _was_ this thing?

That's when she noticed something was _really_ wrong. The dog's jaws were opening wide, much wider than they should have been able to open. Then, the creature's head split open revealing a row of jagged teeth all along the gaping maw. Alice's eyes widened in disbelief. She lost her grip on the dog and the thing lunged forward. She closed her eyes and held her breath, waiting for sharp teeth to tear through the flesh of her throat at any second.

A loud shot rang through the hangar bay and Alice felt the dog roll off of her. She opened her eyes to find Claire and Chris both pointing guns the dog, before Chris shifted his aim to Wesker. Alice smiled. "I told you I'd be bringing a few friends."

The blonde man sneered. "Chris and Claire Redfield. You've become quite the thorn in my side." He paused, removing his sunglasses to reveal dark, blood-red eyes. "No matter. I will be extricating you soon. The youngest Redfield was far more important than either of you anyway."

"Jakey," Claire gasped. "What have you done to him?"

Wesker smiled all too casually. "Done to him? Why Miss Redfield. I haven't done anything to your brother. He's just fine. I've been keeping him _safe." _

The tone in the man's voice wasn't lost on Alice. Something was definitely up. Wesker pulled up a screen beside his chair. "Show Jake Redfield." The computer screen flashed to life. After a sequence of camera changes, a young man was moving stealthily down a corridor, guns drawn. He was dressed in what appeared to be tactical gear. Alice didn't miss the scarab on his chest.

Claire was first to fire, but soon both she and Chris were shooting at the man.

Alice watched in horror as Wesker's body blurred with speed. Her eyes were able to slow down his movements as she watched him dodge every bullet that was coming his way. _Great_, she thought. _Wesker's infected himself with something._

She really knew it was only a matter of time before the man was finished playing God and wanted to actually join the fight. Looked like that time was finally upon them.

Alice pulled the knife she had taken from Claire, stealthily out of her boot. Wesker had is full attention on dodging the bullets from Chris and Claire's onslaught, so she focused on his fast-moving body and slowed time until she could see each movement. Suddenly she felt the press of a cold barrel against the back of her head. "I don't think so," the man said. _Bennett._

Her blood turned to acid at the man's voice. The shots immediately stopped firing. "Drop your weapons or she gets a bullet in the head. And we'll all see how well she recovers from _that._"

Chris and Claire laid their guns on the ground gently. Alice could smell fear in the room, but it wasn't coming from the Redfields. It was a more distinct smell. _K-Mart_. She didn't know what had happened until she felt the gun drop away from her head after a loud bang.

She watched as Chris and Claire dove for their guns and started firing at Wesker again. She spun around to see K-Mart holding a metal chair over a very unconscious Bennett. She grinned at the girl before remembering the knife. She sent K-Mart a wink before gripping the knife in her hand, and finally flinging it backward with such force and precision that it caught everyone off guard.

Especially Wesker.

The blade made a sickening wet crunching noise as it slid into the blonde man's skull, pushing through bone and puncturing the delicate brain tissue. Wesker stumbled backward and slumped into his throne-like chair.

_How fitting,_ Alice thought coldly. She turned to Claire and Chris. "We need to wake up the others." She was pulling up control center when she heard movement behind them. She turned just in time to see Wesker pulling the blade from his forehead. "My God. What _are _you?"

The blonde man smirked. "Well God is definitely a good start." He tossed the knife to the side and lunged at Alice.

* * *

_A/N: Well he's pretty hard to kill. Welcome back to the characters I left behind in Reconstruction! This shit's about to get real ;-) _


	12. Chapter 12

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or storyline from Resident Evil. Just the thoughts swirling around my head that Alice and Claire are perfect for each other..._

* * *

Claire's POV

Claire's gun caught the man off guard as he focused his attention solely on Alice. Her bullet found his head and stopped the man cold. Soon she and Chris were raining bullets into Wesker's lifeless body. Just for good measure. She saw Alice headed toward the osprey but didn't stop firing until the gun clicked empty.

She stood there staring at Wesker's unmoving form. Alice walked up and stood beside her, gently closing her hand around Claire's and lowering the gun. "Let's wake the others."

They all huddled around the control panel pulling up tubes and releasing their friends. Chase. Betty. Mikey. Luther – though Claire would've been fine leaving the flirtatious man in his drug induced slumber. They found Crystal and Kim Yong. Angel Ortiz. Otto. Carlos. They were so involved in the process that they didn't register the body had moved until they heard the engines of the osprey firing up. The hatch above them was opening.

"Shit!" she cried. She started after the helicopter, guns drawn, when Alice caught her from behind.

"Come on!" the older woman called. She took Claire by the hand and dragged her toward the main deck. Once they were on the flight deck, they watched the osprey take off and fly away from the ship. She turned to Alice, a question poised on the tip of her tongue as to why the older woman on why she would let the man escape, but the brunette had a knowing smile on her face.

Suddenly, the sky was alight with a massive explosion. They stood there on the flight deck, still breathless from their sprint upstairs. Alice looked at Claire and smiled a genuine smile that the redhead melted under. "I didn't want you to miss that."

Claire laughed. The noise sounded so strange coming from her, but it felt so _right._ Beside her, Chris and K-Mart were grinning and behind them the others began to emerge from the ship. As she stared at Alice's profile, her memories came flooding back to her_. _

_Alice standing in the desert, arms outstretched, the sky on fire above her. Alice pressing her against the wall in the stairwell after the fight in Vegas. Looking up to find K-Mart watching their passion._ She felt the blush on her face as she remembered this, but the memories kept coming. _Her night with K-Mart. The strip tease, taking the young blonde's virginity. All hell breaking loose afterward. The infection, her body on fire as the virus stampeded through her veins. Alice holding her tenderly, making love to her for the first time outside of the woman's blood lust. Alice risking her life, once again to find her the antivirus. The huge lizard-like creatures outside of the Umbrella facility. Alice's clones. _ She blushed again. _Alice standing outside the small town in Nevada, shrinking more and more as Claire pulled the helo away from the ground._

Alice turned to meet her gaze with a questioning glance. Claire shook her head. "Just admiring the view," she whispered so that only Alice could hear. She decided not to inform the older woman, at the moment, that her memories had returned. She was already having a hard enough time keeping her hands off of the brunette. If Alice started looking at her with those eyes full of desire, the way she used to look at Claire, the redhead would be dragging her off to the nearest dark corner.

The older woman grinned. Alice's face looked so carefree at the moment. It was refreshing to see the woman look so at ease. Normally, Alice looked so haunted.

Suddenly, strong arms were wrapping around her from behind. She cocked her head to the side to find Carlos. The man smiled at her. "We thought we'd lost you for good. It's good to have you back."

She turned to face the older man and gave him a big hug. "You should have known it'd take more than a little virus to bring me down, old man." She winked at Carlos.

He laughed. "Yeah, I guess I underestimated your pig-headedness."

She gave the man a playful shove and turned to find Helena Harper and Sherry. She smiled at the two. "Hey. How are you guys?"

The woman nodded. "Good now. What happened to the people who attacked us last night?"

Claire shook her head. "We don't know. The only person we found awake on the entire ship just exploded in that helicopter. I did notice a few of the speedboats missing from the hangar bay. Maybe the crew decided to abandon ship."

Sherry stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Claire's neck. "I can't believe I found you again," she whispered. "I never got a chance to properly thank you for saving my life in Raccoon City."

Claire shook her head sadly. "I didn't save you Sherry. I failed you. You saved yourself."

Sherry smiled. "You got me my train ticket though." She winked at the woman.

Claire hugged the girl tightly. "You've really grown up. How old are you now?"

Sherry grinned at the redhead. "I'm eighteen. Finally an adult."

Claire laughed. "I think you were an adult when I met you."

The two laughed quietly together as Claire scanned their surroundings. Her eyes landed on K-Mart's calculating brown eyes. The girl stood a few yards away, scrutinizing the embrace. Her eyes never met Claire's, but there was a strange look on the blonde's face.

K-Mart turned away when Alice placed a hand on her shoulder. She smiled up at the woman as Alice led her over to the side of the ship to look out across the water.

Claire pulled away from Sherry. "We have _a lot_ of catching up to do, but right now, I think I may have just given someone the wrong impression. Catch up with you later? Over dinner?"

Sherry smiled. "Of course, Claire."

The redhead turned and jogged off in the direction of K-Mart. Alice turned upon hearing her approach. She smiled knowingly at Claire. "Hey K," Claire said quietly, wrapping her arms around the girl's waist from behind.

K-Mart's hands settled on top of her own, fingers lacing through the redhead's as she held Claire against her closely. "K, you know it's not what it looked like right? You know there was never anything between Sherry and me. I mean, come on, she was twelve when I knew her." She chuckled.

K-Mart sighed. "Oh Claire. I know that. You and Alice are soul mates. I know no one will ever come between you two. I came to terms with that in the desert."

Claire's eyes met Alice's over the top of K-Mart's head, and the woman sent her a timid smile before looking away.

"I just," K-Mart continued. "I thought that maybe I would still have a special place in your life. A best friend. Maybe a little sister."

Claire tightened her grip around the girl. "K-Mart. No one will _ever_ replace you. Ever. Maybe not _quite _the little sister, but I think that's only because I still have flashes in my brain from – your birthday."

She heard K-Mart suck in a breath. "Yeah. I guess the sister thing would be a little weird huh?" Her body shook with silent laughter and Claire smiled into her hair.

"You'll always be my best friend K. You have been for years. No one will ever take your place," she assured the girl.

K-Mart turned to face Claire. "Promise?" she asked with still a bit of doubt lacing her voice.

The redhead smiled. "Promise."

* * *

That night the crew sat around the mess hall eating a nice dinner that Crystal and Luther had prepared. Angel had found some fishing gear in one of the cargo holds and he and Carlos had sat down by the open debark door and caught upwards of thirty sea bass in just under two hours. It appeared the ocean life was thriving without human interference.

Claire shoveled the fish and chips into her mouth. It really was the best meal she had had in years.

K-Mart was watching the other teen closely. "So what happened in Raccoon City? Claire rescued you?"

Sherry looked up at the blonde apprehensively. She nodded. "Yeah, she helped me escape the city, before it, well – blew up."

K-Mart narrowed her eyes, studying the girl's face and body language. Claire knew what was going on. K-Mart was actually sizing the girl up. She shot a warning glance at the blonde, but if K-Mart saw her, then she ignored her silent request.

"How'd you get out? Mine was all luck. Happened to be shopping outside of the city when they shut the gates."

Sherry looked at the older girl. "Claire found me in the city. Something was chasing me. Stalking me. It wasn't like the other things; it was consciously seeking me out. She took me under her wing – so to speak." She smirked at the redhead. "We got separated and the thing found me. Turns out. It was my dad. He had injected himself with his research, a virus called the G-Virus, and he had mutated beyond recognition. I guess he infected me, the doctors and Claire were never really straightforward about all of it, but Claire and my mom developed a vaccine. Claire saved me from turning to the same creature that my father did. Then she finally ended up getting us on a train out of the city, but my dad tried to blow it up. We got off just in time. He was caught by the explosion."

K-Mart shook her head; eyes wide. "That's horrible!"

Sherry smiled sadly. "Yeah, but we didn't really have a choice. We all lie at night in the beds we make each morning. Claire separated from Leon and I to go find her brother, and Leon took me to a government facility in Detroit to be tested and helped to recover." Sherry's eyes darted over to Chris. "I'm guessing you found him?"

Claire beamed at her brother, then at Sherry. "I did."

Sherry smiled. "You have the same eyes."

Claire noticed her brother grinning like an idiot. She rolled her eyes.

"So this G-Virus," Alice broke into the conversation. "That's what I smell in your blood now?"

The girl looked at the older woman with hesitant eyes. "It is. Yes. The vaccine wasn't able to extricate the virus from my blood entirely. It just killed the parasite. The virus in my blood can't be transmitted though, so you don't have to worry about me infecting anyone."

Alice smiled. "Are there any side effects?"

Sherry grinned at this. "I can heal. _Really_ fast. As can you, apparently."

Alice glanced down. "Yeah. Anything else?"

Sherry narrowed her eyes. "No, I may be a bit stronger and faster now, but that may be just because I'm in better shape. I definitely don't have your _abilities_."

"Be thankful for that," she whispered to the girl.

Claire raised an eyebrow at the woman before turning back to Sherry. "So what were you doing at the prep school?"

"Helena and I were – "

Helena cleared her throat loudly.

"Um, we were looking for survivors. We were kind of part of this rescue group that was going from city to city and rounding up people who had been trapped. We went in with a team of twelve to rescue the kids at the school, but we were the only ones who made it past the sea of undead outside of the building." She looked at her partner who nodded nearly imperceptibly.

Claire didn't miss that glance, and looking over at her own partner, it appeared Alice had caught it as well. "I guess we should all find our living quarters."

Luther stood up. "Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but since it seems like Alice has saved most of our asses at least once. I'm voting she gets the Captain's Quarters."

Alice looked down shyly, a blush lightly dusting her cheeks. "I don't need that Luther. I'll be fine in a normal room."

Chris stood up with Luther. "I second that. You deserve it Alice."

Alice looked down at Claire pleadingly. The redhead smiled. "You already know what I think."

"All in favor?" Luther asked the small crowd. Every hand in the room was raised.

Alice sighed. She was not about to accept responsibility for all of these people, especially since her track record for letting people down left much to be desired. "Okay, but I get at least one roommate. Those quarters are huge." She looked down at Claire. "What do ya say, roomie?"

Claire laughed. "Now who's going to take care of K-Mart if I room with you?" she asked playfully. She knew Alice could see right through her. She smiled at the woman.

"She can bunk with me," Betty spoke up. "Maybe it'll make me feel young again." The woman laughed as K-Mart swatted her arm playfully.

K-Mart scowled at the dark-skinned woman. "You're not _that_ much older than I am, you jerk."

"Ha!" Betty laughed. "I had graduated high school by the time you were born."

Claire watched the exchange with amusement. She followed K-Mart and Betty to their quarters, just down the hall from the ones she would be sharing with Alice. She hugged K-Mart tightly. "Night K."

"Goodnight Claire Bear," the girl whispered.

She rolled her eyes at the nickname, but ruffled K-Mart's blonde hair affectionately. "Sleep well."

When she got to her own quarters, Alice was sitting on the side of the bed. One bed. Of course there was only one bed. There was only one Captain. The brunette looked up shyly at her. "I can sleep on the sofa. It's plenty big enough."

Claire smirked at Alice seductively. "And why would you go and do a thing like that?"

Alice's eyes widened briefly, before her face was guarded again. "Claire," she began softly. "I know that in the shower we – I mean I understand what you were saying – about your body – remembering me, but – what we had before – I mean, everything until the end was all in a haze of blood lust. I don't want anything standing in the way this time. I want – I want your heart to remember me too…" She smiled shyly and looked down at her hands in her lap, blushing lightly.

It was possibly the most adorable thing Claire had ever seen the woman do. She wanted to scoop Alice up in her arms and plant kisses all over her face, but instead she walked toward the older woman and knelt in front of her. She glanced up at Alice's face through thick reddish-blonde lashes. "Alice," she whispered breathily. "I do remember you. My heart remembers you most."

She reached out and took Alice's hand, placing it over her heart in the same position as their last night together. She could feel her heart pounding against her chest and knew that Alice could feel it as well. She leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to the woman's lips before pulling away. "I seem to recall mapping your body with my fingertips before I left for Alaska," she said seductively. "Let's see if I can still find my way around." She leaned in capturing Alice's lips once again, begging entrance into the brunette's mouth.

Alice leaned back on the bed, pulling the redhead on top of her.

Claire pulled her knees up to straddle Alice's waist, never breaking the kiss.

Alice's fingers went to the button of her jeans but Claire grabbed her hands and shoved them against the bed above the woman's head. She laced their fingers together and pulled away from the older woman's lips. "This time," she paused. "I'm in control."

Alice raised a dark brow at the redhead before relinquishing her control.

* * *

_A/N: Yay! Alice and Claire are back in the game :-) So I guess you've noticed by now that I've started pulling characters from the games into the story instead of just having the ones from the movies. If you haven't played the games at all, I'll try to keep you up to speed on how those characters actually fit into the overall story. You can always shoot me a PM if I'm being too vague. _

_Review Responses: I can't believe y'all let me get away without doing these last week. I'm such a slacker! Anyway, double responses this week. :-)_

_PrincessLia – K-Mart is HERE! And yes, Janus still has a small role in the story, nothing big. K-Mart's new girl….you'll love ;-) I promise. And yup, Jake is totally a Redfield in this story. I mentioned it (only briefly) in Reconstruction. Of course, there's ALWAYS a twist._

_mickelus – Well, I figured that would be the more appropriate order of operations. I mean, she did know K-Mart for a lot longer than she knew Alice. It's only fair her brain would lock onto that as well. Haha, yeah I was wondering if the chapter was a bust or not, but I guess it just took more time for people to get to reading it this time LoL _

_angelsgir – Right? I'm am NOT good at sharing, but Alice seems to have no problem with it. I'm assuming it's because…you know…the end of the world and all. Gotta spread around what love there is ;-) Haha, and yes, welcome back K-Mart._

_binsidebritsmind – Glad you're enjoying the story! And yes, there will be lots of K-Mart now that she has returned!_

_the lucky three leaf clover – hahaha, well lucky for you, birds and bees are attracted to clovers ;-) Yeah Claire's memory is slowly but surely returning…wonder what she'll remember next?..._

_123a456e – I will do my best to offer explanations and backgrounds to the game characters, but of course, if you feel I haven't explained enough, just say so and I'll try to add a better explanation further along in the story. I will be introducing your "formally" to Sherry and Helena soon. ;-) Haha, yeah Bennett is the only fool on board…so to speak._

_Cookie – Thank you so much! That means so much to me to hear. I love it when people want my stories to never end. Let's face it, the reason we write fan fiction is because the real story ended too quickly right? This fic still has a WAYS to go, so there is no end in sight as of now. I'll probably continue this one well into the next year._

_poynton90 – Well, keep in mind that, originally, in Reconstruction, she didn't drink the blood to heal, she just drank it for strength. Claire was taking a leap of faith with the whole 'healing' thing, looks like it worked well for her though. ;-) Oh there is ALWAYS a chance something scary will happen ;-) but first, we must get through the normal storyline approach, just so I don't veer 'too' far from the mainline. Hehehe, yes, a third Redfield! What is going ON in my head?_

_Rainbow Unicorn – I am slightly evil, but I think that's just human nature right? Oh, sadism isn't normal you say? Hmm…well then….I have some things to consider now. They told me it was perfectly normal :-/ hahaha You should know by now that you will ALWAYS get a cliff hanger ;-) Ask anyone who follows my other stories ;-)_

_WolfDragonGod – Well I can tell you right now, that the first couple of days will somewhat mirror the movie, however, after that, it's ALL up in the air. ;-)_

_J.S.F. Northern Command – Oh yeah? That's awesome! Did I describe it correctly? I had to look it up and do some research LoL I couldn't NOT use it though, it was just so perfect, and I had to have a way to introduce the new characters so… failsafe_

_kellzbellz – hahaha how many 'rational' 19 year-olds have you met in your lifetime? I'm pretty sure Sherry's age didn't even cross K-Mart's mind through the haze of jealousy ;-) I'm kidding of course. K-Mart is chill. It's all good. Trust me, Alice is NOT going to become human again._

_Claire x Alice – Hey hey, I see you made an account! Nice. Welcome :-) Chris is so much fun to write. I actually have modeled him a lot after Dean from Supernatural LoL I'm not sure why, I just thought that personality type would fit the story nicely. _

_Guest – Oh trust me, shit is about to get even real-er… ;-)_

_Guest – It wouldn't be a story without Wesker ;-)_

_alexis payton – I love Wesker too. He just makes the entire series for me. It's great having such an awesome super villain to mold into a new character for this story. Haha, perhaps K-Mart and Jakey will be sitting in a tree, but she'd push him out of it and laugh as he fell. ;-)_

_ShadowCub – hahaha, well, you know, he's crazy … so…crazy people think they're god sometimes. ;-)_


	13. Chapter 13

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or storyline from Resident Evil. Just the thoughts swirling around my head that Alice and Claire are perfect for each other..._

* * *

Alice's POV

Alice awoke to the feeling of a tickling sensation on her face. At first she thought it was the wind, but as she turned her eyes slightly, it felt as if spider webs were covering her face.

Her eyes snapped open and her view was distorted by dark tangles. She inhaled deeply. Claire. She rolled until her body came into contact with the bare skin of Claire's back. That was when she noticed she wasn't wearing any clothes.

Images of the night before swam lazily into her mind. She grinned into the nest of red hair at her face, kissing the back of Claire's head. She wrapped her arm around the redhead's waist and pulled her body back until it molded perfectly against her own.

Claire moaned, arching her back with a stretch and covering Alice's hand with hers. "Morning."

Alice kissed the redhead's shoulder softly. "It's not quite morning yet."

"What time is it?" Claire asked sleepily.

"I'd guess about an hour before sunrise."

Claire snuggled into Alice's body. "Good, let's get some more sleep."

Alice smirked. "I can think of something else we could do with our time." The hand on Claire's stomach slowly drifted downward until her fingers were slipping in between the younger woman's thighs.

Claire moaned again, this time, a deeper, throatier sound than the one before. "I could get used to waking up like this," the younger woman whispered.

Alice grinned. She could definitely get used to waking up next to Claire every morning.

Claire arched into her, shoulders pressing into Alice's chest as the brunette moved her hand in slow, lazy strokes. "Last night was – a rare occasion, you know. I don't usually give up control that easily."

Claire chuckled, but her voice caught in her throat in a gasp as Alice's fingers slipped inside of her. "I seem to remember something about that yeah. Won't happen again ma'am. Scouts honor." She paused. "You can punish me if you see fit."

Alice merely raised a dark brow.

The older woman brought her free hand up the redhead's side in a touch that was so soft, she knew that it was near unbearable. She leaned down and pressed her lips against Claire's temple, then her ear, and then focused on her slender neck, hand slipping around to lightly stroke the side of her breast.

Claire was breathing shakily. Alice smiled into the crook of her neck. "You're acting like it's our first time. All trembling and quiet sounds."

Claire turned around until she was facing the brunette. "Every time with you feels like a first." She scrunched her eyebrows together. "But, it also feels like it could be a last. Everything you do is so dangerous. I just want to make the most out of all the time we have with each other. I've already lost you twice."

Alice leaned forward and caught the redhead's lips in a passionate kiss. She pulled Claire's body into her own, until there was no space between them. She pushed her thigh in between Claire's legs and felt the woman buck against her. Smiling into their kiss, she whispered a silent thank you, to who ever, or whatever had brought Claire into her life.

* * *

When they rolled out of bed to get breakfast, the sun was just peaking over the horizon. The mess hall was empty, so Alice made her way to the galley and started rummaging around. She pulled out a frying pan and took out the canister of powdered eggs. She reached into the refrigerator and pulled out a couple of the sausages they had removed from the freezer to thaw, next she turned on the oven and brought down a few of the frozen biscuits.

While she was cooking, Claire moved behind her, wrapping her arms around Alice's waist and nuzzling against her neck. She slipped her hands under the fabric of Alice's shirt and rubbed small circles on the woman's stomach.

Alice smiled and tilted her head to the side offering more of her neck to Claire's insistent lips.

"Oh," came a quiet voice from the doorway to the galley.

Alice turned to find Sherry.

Claire pulled away and turned toward the girl.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to – I smelled the sausage." She shook her head, looking a little flustered. She turned to Claire. "I didn't realize you were. I mean – I always thought you had a thing for Leon."

Claire snorted loudly. "Kennedy? Not in this lifetime."

Sherry chuckled. "For the best," she said sadly, her face looking a bit forlorn. "You two are cute together, but I don't know how you manage to get along. You both seem very – dominant."

It was Alice's turn to laugh this time. "Oh Claire definitely wears the pants and she knows it." She winked at the girl.

Claire buried her face in between Alice's shoulder blades and mumbled quietly. "Except in the bedroom." Alice's sensitive ears easily picked up the woman's words and she smirked, cocking an eyebrow up.

Alice turned back to the girl. She was blushing lightly. She smiled a lazy smile at Sherry. "You want me to throw you a couple of sausages on?"

Sherry grinned. "Yes please." She gave one last glance at the two women and walked back into the mess hall to sit down.

The three sat down to their breakfast and were soon joined by Chris, Angel, Carlos, and Luther.

* * *

After breakfast they went to the flight deck to get a good look at where they were. They needed to decide where they were going to take the ship to next. They needed to scroll through the rest of the names and information to see if they could wake anyone else who would be of help to them. Anyone with experience driving or maintaining a ship.

They were talking casually when Alice heard the low hum of an engine. The hairs on the back of her neck rose slightly and she jerked her head around to scan the horizon.

"What is it?" Chris asked, concern lacing his voice.

"I hear engines. Helicopters," Alice answered.

Claire's face darkened as she stared in the direction Alice was looking. "Umbrella."

Alice nodded. "We need to arm up." She stayed on the flight deck while the rest of the crew made their way to the armory they had found the day prior. They were just getting back when the first of the ospreys appeared in the sky.

Soon the entire sky was filled with the giant birds. They immediately began firing on the ship. All chaos broke loose. Alice watched as her friends returned fire. One of the birds exploded when Chris's bullet found the fuel tank.

"Luther," she yelled. "Get below and wake as many as you can. Arm them and get them out here stat!" The dark man took off in a sprint.

Alice began firing at the helos. She took out another with a head shot to the pilot. The bird spun out of control and crashed into the nearest, taking down both of them.

The remaining helos let out of spray of gunfire onto the flight deck, sending the survivors scattering. There was no way they were going to be able to take out all of these helos. Alice counted at least eight more of the birds.

She focused on the closest one, pulling against its engines with her mind. Finally, she over powered it and sent it crashing into the water. She felt the dizziness that accompanied the use of her powers, but pushed it away as she focused on a second bird.

Soon they were joined on the flight deck by Kim Yong, Chase, Betty, and K-Mart. Helena joined them shortly after. Everything was moving too fast. Alice watched helplessly as the Asian man was shredded by the 50 caliber rounds. She turned back to the ospreys and sent a blast of pure energy in their direction. It barely even pushed them off course.

Not long after that, she was surrounded by people she had never seen before. Everyone was armed with something, whether it be a handgun or an automatic rifle. Another bird fell from the sky, but the remaining pilots were getting smarter. They stayed well out of range of the handguns, firing mercilessly into the crowd of survivors.

People all around her were dropping like flies. The helos were getting closer now. Alice watched as the cargo doors opened up and down came Umbrella soldiers in full body armor. They swarmed the deck like ants. She heard Claire and Chris shouting orders. Shots were being fired continuously. She spotted Chase hunkered down behind a forklift firing precision shots at the soldiers before taking aim at another bird and putting a bullet into the pilot.

Unfortunately, the two helos that were beside it, pulled up before the bird could spin around and into them. The helo, instead, crashed into the deck of the Arcadia crushing Umbrella soldiers and survivors without prejudice.

A flash of color caught her eye then, and she turned back toward the sky. That's when everything spiraled out of control. It was _Jill_. Jill Valentine was leading the Umbrella soldiers. Alice noticed the controlling device on her chest immediately, but it didn't make things any easier.

She spotted Alice and sprinted toward her, guns drawn. Alice immediately met the woman halfway, dodging her bullets easily. They came together in a clash of blunt force. Jill's guns were wrenched from her hands and instead, she pulled out two strike batons and brought them down hard against Alice's forearms when she tried to go for her shotguns.

The guns flew from Alice's grip and onto the deck behind her. She pulled her kukris fast as Jill tried to bring another set of blows down on her arms. Metal clanged against metal. Alice brought her leg up and landed a kick square in Jill's chest. She was hoping to break the device off of her, but the thing appeared to be indestructible.

She felt, rather than saw, Jill's baton crash against her jaw. She felt the bone shatter under her skin. Her mouth filled with her own blood as she brought her knee forward and into the woman's stomach. Jill doubled over and she brought her elbow down against the woman's back, sending her to her knees.

She was at a disadvantage. She was unfocused, worried about the other survivors, and Jill cared nothing for the Umbrella soldiers that were under her command. Also, Jill wasn't just trying to disarm Alice. She was throwing killing blows. Whatever drug they were pumping into her system, it did not allow for mercy.

Her legs were swept out from under her and Jill was on top of her in a heartbeat. Alice barely managed to bring her blade up in time to stop Jill's baton from crushing in her skull.

She bucked her hips up and brought her legs forward, wrapping them around Jill's neck and flinging the woman off of her. She watched Jill sail over the rail and onto the deck below.

She stood, jaw throbbing, spitting out blood, and focused on another helo. There were only three of the huge birds left, but they were doing the most damage. She pulled against its engines, but her head was throbbing. She gave it everything she had and watched as it inched slowly closer to the bird hovering just over its right quarter.

With a great mental effort, she twisted the helo until the giant rotor tore through the fuel tank of the bird above it. The higher osprey crashed down on the lower one, sending them both into the waves.

Alice turned to the last helo and focused her attention. She felt a sharp pain in her leg and one in her shoulder. She knew she was being shot at, but she forced herself to focus. Another pain in her leg. Two more in her side. Her head swam as she pulled against the helo's engines.

Claire's voice tore through the deafening noise and found her ears. "Alice! Duck!"

She dropped to her knees instantly. She could feel the wind from Jill's baton as it missed her skull by inches. The woman stood over her and prepared for another blow. She tried to protect herself but there were too many bullets in her muscles. She had lost too much blood to focus. The baton came down hard, but something knocked the woman off course.

Alice barely registered a flash of red and a hard body tackling Jill to the ground. Alice stood as quickly as she could manage and pulled Claire off of Jill before the redhead could get hurt. She fired two quick shots into the Umbrella agent's shoulders forcing her to drop the batons. She picked one up as it rolled toward her and landed a hard blow against the woman's head, knocking her unconscious. She hoped. She turned back to watch the last helo fall into the sea. The remaining survivors made quick work of the few Umbrella soldiers left on deck.

When the last bullet was fired, the silence surrounded her like a thick blanket. K-Mart's anguished scream was the next thing she heard. "Mikey! No!"

She could hear the girl's loud sobs, but she couldn't be bothered with sorrow at the moment. She stumbled over to Jill. Her fingers brushed against Jill's neck and just barely noticed a weak pulse.

Claire was at her side. "My God, it's Jill."

Alice turned toward her. "We have to get this off of her." She indicated the controlling device. Claire nodded.

Alice reached forward and pulled the scarab from Jill's chest. It released much more easily than Claire's had, but as she pulled it from the woman's chest, a barb popped out like a scorpion's tail and implanted itself deep into Alice's wrist, injecting a thick, black liquid into her blood. She looked down at where the needle was lodged into her skin. "Fuck," she whispered.

Claire tore the device from her wrist and slammed it against the deck. The light went out as it switched into dormant mode.

Alice looked down at her arm. She could feel the virus reacting to whatever was just injected into her. It was a tingling sensation at first. Then a mild burn. Before she knew it her entire arm was on _fire._ She clenched her teeth and looked at Claire.

The redhead's eyes were filled with fear. "Alice, what's going on? What was that?"

Alice shook her head and grunted. "I. Don't. Know. But. It. Hurts. Like…..Fuck."

The fire had spread up her arm and into her chest. It was taking over her entire body. The last thing she saw was Claire's beautiful face, filled with horror.

* * *

_A/N: Oh God. Noooooo! What the hell did those bastards do to Alice now? God, I'm really starting to feel sorry for you guys. You're all so patient with my stories even though I leave you with cliffie after cliffie because I'm a sadistic bitch… :-/ So…thanks for the continued support!_

_Review Responses:_

_poynton90 – Well you know it wouldn't be my story unless there was a little bit of tension ;-) Gotta keep it going. _

_the lucky three leaf clover – hahaha maybe you should change your name to "Fresh Meat" then? I'm glad that you're excited about everyone being back in the story. I just keep adding characters. I'm gonna be like George R. R. Martin soon and have to have a database to keep things straight._

_PrincessLia – Haha, well they did have a wonderful night together of course. Janus is invisible and secretly spying on K-Mart while she masturbates to Claire and Alice through the wall. Duh. Haha, I promise you'll find out where Janus has been soon-ish. K-Mart and Sherry? Well there's a match made in Hades. We shall see ;-) At least I answered one of your questions. Jill is back. ;-)_

_Cookie – Yeah my only real issue right now is trying to keep up with grad school and still have any time at all to write. But I'm working through that. And keeping straight As ;-) _

_Rainbow Unicorn – Cliff hangers are an author's only guarantee that readers will come back next week ;-)_

_Claire x Alice – Oh Helena that tricky tricky woman. She's most likely got a deep, dark secret that will put everyone in jeopardy. Or maybe she's just keeping a dirty relationship with Sherry on the D/L?_

_Kungfu Kia – I'm trying to give a little background on the new characters so that the people who haven't played the games can keep up. You'll be learning more about Sherry and Helena in future chapters. Yeah! K-Mart and Claire's relationship seems indestructible doesn't it? _

_Kellzbellz – Oh there are still many twists and turns for my poor characters. But I have faith that they can make it through. Well…most of them anyway. ;-) Thanks! We shall see on Sherry and K-Mart. We shall see…_

_123a456e – Thanks so much! I couldn't keep them apart for too awfully long. They're meant to be together._

_WolfDragonGod – It's ALWAYS good to hear that :-) thanks!_


	14. Chapter 14

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or storyline from Resident Evil. Just the thoughts swirling around my head that Alice and Claire are perfect for each other..._

* * *

Jill's POV

When Jill Valentine opened her eyes the first thing she noticed was the throbbing pain in her head. That was until she tried to bring her hand up to massage her eyes. Then, the searing pain in her shoulder quickly overpowered the headache. She groaned, opening her eyes. A blurry figure stumbled into view. She squinted against the pain and forced her eyes to focus. Chris Redfield? She hadn't seen him since S.T.A.R.S. Academy in Raccoon City.

"Chris?"

The man moved closer. "Hey killer."

She smiled despite herself. "Am I dead?"

Chris snorted. "Not yet you aren't, but just wait until my little sister gets down here."

"Claire? She's alive?"

Chris's face hardened. "Yeah, no thanks to you. What the fuck happened out there Jill?"

Jill searched her brain. The last thing she remembered was… "Angie! Oh my God. Where's Angie?"

"Who?" Chris asked bitterly.

Jill shook her head, causing the pain to grow more violent. "There was – a little girl. She was very sick. We broke into an Umbrella facility to find the antivirus for her – but – I – I got caught?"

Chris pulled a chair up to the side of her bed and sat down. "Well at least that explains how Umbrella got their hands on you." He held up the scarab. "Do you know what this thing is?"

Jill shook her head. It was vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place the memory.

"It was attached to your chest. Alice said it was pumping some kind of mind control drug into your system. Jill – you attacked us."

Jill gasped. "I didn't – I mean I wouldn't – I couldn't have. Alice? She's – alive?"

Chris glared at her. "Well you did. And you killed a lot of innocent people. And yeah, Alice is alive. Though you almost killed her too." His face scrunched up. "If that's even possible…"

She felt her eyes fill up with unshed tears. She hadn't cried in – years. And _never_ in front of Chris. "I – " There was nothing that she could say. "Chris, it wasn't me."

"We know that," a familiar voice came from the doorway. She turned her head to find Claire Redfield. Her eyes filled with affection for the younger woman. She had spent many months with the redhead traipsing around through the backcountry, trying to survive with a convoy of people. "But we need answers Jill. What do you remember about this device?" She took the scarab from her brother and held it out to Jill.

Jill shook her head. "Nothing concrete. Just – brief flashes. Doctors. Umbrella. Lots of needles."

Claire's eyes drilled into hers. "Well, you're gonna have to remember something fast, because this thing injected something into Alice." Her eyes clouded over with emotion before she hardened her face again. "And she hasn't woken up from it yet."

Claire walked around Jill's bed and pulled the curtain aside to reveal another bed. Alice's prone form lay on the bed, eyes closed. The only relief Jill got from the sight was the steady rise and fall of the woman's chest. "Oh Alice." She reached out toward the woman but came nowhere near touching her. The pain in her shoulder was intense but she choked it down. "I'm so sorry."

Claire sat on the edge of Alice's bed and took the woman's hand in her own. Jill watched as the redhead's thumb stroked the back of Alice's hand tenderly. Sadness overwhelmed her entire body when she realized that Claire had feelings for the woman, maybe even loved her.

Jill had been intimate with Alice on numerous occasions, but their personalities clashed like oil and water outside of_ the_ _bedroom_. She wondered if the tall, enigmatic woman had found in Claire, what the redhead had seemed to find in Alice. "Let me look at the thing," she said quietly.

Claire handed her the scarab and she stared at it, willing the memories to come back. All she managed to do was make her head throb. Frustrated, she tossed the thing on the bed.

She felt Claire's warm hand on her arm then. "You'll remember. Eventually. Let's just hope it's in enough time to save her." She took one last glance at Alice and then left the room without another word.

Jill looked back at Chris. "How long have they..?" She didn't really know how to finish the sentence.

Chris shook his head. "I have no idea. I'm not even really sure if they're_ really_ aware of anything besides physical attraction yet."

Jill smiled at the man's ignorance. "Oh Claire's _definitely_ aware of it. Alice is one lucky woman. That's sister of yours, Redfield. She's a piece of art."

Chris scrunched his face up. "That's my baby sister your undressing in your mind!"

Jill laughed. "It's okay Chris. It's not me you have to worry about." She looked over at Alice. "I remember that brunette all too well." Her eyebrows furrowed. "Though she was blonde when I knew her."

Chris cocked an eyebrow at the blonde. "Speaking of blonde, what'd you do to your hair anyway? It looks like a bottle of peroxide exploded on your head."

Jill groaned. "My hair is blonde?!" She was furious.

Chris chuckled at her anger. "I think that's really the least of your problems right now. You're a bit of an amnesiac at the moment, remember?"

"No, I must have forgotten," she bit off, smirking at the dark haired man. She'd missed Chris's dry sense of humor, and his charm. Though, he was constantly trying to get into her pants during their days at the S.T.A.R.S. Academy.

* * *

Jill must have fallen asleep, because she was jolted awake by the sound of a soft voice calling out her name. "Jill. Jill. Jill, wake up."

She turned her head to find dazzling blue-green eyes on her. "Alice! You're awake!"

"Yeah, what's going on?"

Jill frowned. "The device you pulled off of me injected you with something. You've been unconscious for a while. Claire is really worried about you."

Alice smiled sadly. "I remember now." She raised her hand to her jaw and prodded the bone.

Jill looked at the dark bruise on Alice's face, the one that Chris had informed her she had made. She felt a twinge of guilt. "I'm really sorry about that Alice. Does it hurt a lot?"

Alice grinned. "It's already all healed up Jill. Don't worry about it." She frowned. "How are you? I hit you pretty hard. I didn't get anything important with the shots did I?"

Jill shook her head. "Just muscle. Too bad I don't heal like you. I'd already be a hundred percent. I had almost forgotten that you were Super Woman."

Alice smiled. "I don't feel like much of a super anything at the moment. My body aches."

Jill frowned again.

Suddenly the door burst open and in walked Claire with a blonde woman in tow. "Alice! You're awake!"

Alice smiled at the redhead. "Yeah." Her eyes searched Claire's face, lavishing her with adoration, before shifting questioningly to the woman beside her.

Jill caught the look Alice gave Claire and it made her insides curl. Alice was in love…

"This is Doctor Karen Ashford," Claire started. "This is Angie's mother. She was Head of Research for the Umbrella facility in Los Angeles. She's going to test your blood and tell us what we're up against."

Alice narrowed her eyes at the woman. "How can we be sure we can trust her?"

Claire sighed. "We can't Alice, but she's our only hope at the moment."

The woman stepped forward. "I promise, I'll earn your trust. My husband and I were actively working to bring Umbrella down when the virus escaped." She took a syringe and drew a vial of Alice's blood. "There's a secret research lab on the other side of this ward. I'll run the tests and be back as soon as I know what we're dealing with."

Alice nodded coldly at the woman. Jill could almost feel the animosity coming from the brunette.

Jill's eyes drifted over to Claire. She studied the woman's face as Claire's eyes traced along Alice's skin. She had tried so hard to catch the redhead's attention when they had been in the desert with the convoy, but Claire was always so out of reach. She wondered what Alice had done to win Claire's heart. She let her eyes fall shut as she heard Alice's bed groan with Claire's added weight. She couldn't watch the love that was passing between the two women. The soft moan she heard at her side was nearly her undoing, but she squeezed her eyes shut tighter.

"I thought I'd lost you for good this time," came the redhead's soft whisper.

She heard Alice's low chuckle. "I'm hard to kill, remember?"

She heard the bed shift again, then the room fell silent. Finally, she peeked her eyes open to see Claire snuggled up to Alice's side. The older woman cast a glance in her direction and Jill smiled nervously. Alice just smirked her famous, levelheaded_, nothing gets to me_ smirk.

* * *

The doctor came back after about an hour. She had a clipboard and was scribbling notes down as she walked. "Well, I've got good news, and I've got bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"

"Bad," all three women said at the same time.

The doctor nodded, looking between the three. "Um, okay." She took a deep breath. "It appears that you've been infected with a new virus. It was in the developmental stages before the outbreak. I had my suspicions that they were carrying on with the research even after the outbreak. Looks as if I was right. The woman responsible for the virus was a woman named Carla Redames. Basically, the virus takes over your circulatory system and shuts everything down putting the host in a state of chrysalis. While the host is in this dormant state, it mutates the body into its new form."

Jill heard Alice swallow loudly. "What's the good news?"

The doctor smiled. "Mrs. Redames is currently being kept on board this ship. She is in the ship's inventory of people. If anyone knows how to circumvent the transformation, it's going to be her."

Claire was up and dragging the woman out of the room in record time.

Jill looked over at Alice. "I think she's going to go wake up Mrs. Redames," she said dryly.

Alice laughed. "I think you're probably right."

A few minutes later, Claire was back with Doctor Ashford and a small woman with mousy brown hair and sharp features. The woman looked at Alice and turned back to Claire. "This not C-Virus," she grunted, her accent heavy and of Slavic origin. "If this were C-Virus she would not be awake."

Doctor Ashford spoke up here, addressing Carla. "Alice was previously infected with the T-Virus. Her blood had bonded with the virus, altering its DNA. Do you think that could be affecting the C-Virus as well?"

Carla turned back to Alice, her eyes wide. "You are Project Alice? C-Virus and T-Virus together? Not good. Not good."

Claire grabbed the woman by the collar. "Listen, we don't have time for this. What do we have to do to stop the mutation?"

The woman regarded her curiously, fear rolling off of her in waves. "Why should I help you? This woman is dangerous. Should put her from her misery."

"Mrs. Redames we – " Doctor Ashford began, but Claire was unfocused.

Jill watched as Claire's face transformed with thought, then, as if a light bulb had been switched on, she spoke up. "Wait right here. I'll be right back." She ran from the room.

After a few minutes, the redhead returned with a young man.

"Sammy!" Carla cried and went to the boy. "How? Is it possible?"

The boy hugged the older woman tightly. "Hey ma, Claire rescued me from Vancouver and took me to Alaska with her."

The woman's eyes found Claire's face again. She nodded. "My research was kept at secret Umbrella facility on Alcatraz Island. I had synthesized vaccine for C-Virus. Vaccine will be there, but you will still need specific anti-bodies. I believe Chairman Wesker had located a source of antibodies shortly after the outbreak. Perhaps there is something synthesized already." She nodded at Claire. "But vaccine must be administered before transformation is complete. If transformation is complete, vaccine will not work."

Claire nodded. "Looks like we're going on a joy ride."

"I'm going with you," Jill called out. "It's my fault we're in this mess in the first place. It's the least I can do."

Claire shook her head. "Jill I don't think you're in any shape for a suicide mission."

Alice smirked at the woman. "I can fix that."

Jill watched as Claire's eyebrows shot upward. The redhead studied Alice's face for a few moments before nodding. "Okay then. I'll get Chris and Carlos informed. Good news is the osprey in the hanger bay is still operational." She left the room quietly with the doctor and Carla and Sam Redames in tow.

Jill looked at Alice. "And just how are you proposing you fix me up?"

Alice grinned. "I've learned some new tricks since we met last." She winked at the woman. Alice crawled out of bed and leaned over Jill's bed. She pulled the woman's gown aside and dipped her head forward, lapping at the bullet wound.

Jill was immediately overcome with a feeling of calm as the pain slowly faded from her burning shoulder. When Alice pulled away, the wound looked as if it were weeks old. She looked up at the older woman with wide eyes. "How in the world?"

Alice grinned. "Apparently, one of my mutations was a new enzyme. It heals people up pretty quickly. It's gotten a lot stronger since I first discovered it." Alice moved around to the other side of Jill's bed and gave her right shoulder the same treatment. Jill felt a hundred and ten percent better when Alice finally pulled away.

"That's amazing," she whispered. "Alice. Thank you. I don't think I deserved that…"

Alice smiled sadly, putting a hand on Jill's cheek and tucking a strand of long blonde hair behind her ear. "Don't tell Claire I told you this but, when I first found her in Alaska, she attacked me as well." She winked at the blonde. "I know it wasn't you in there when all of this happened. It's good to have you back now."

Jill smiled. "It's good to _be_ back."

* * *

_A/N: Looks as if our heroine and her trusty side kicks are headed to the Rock, but what will they find when they get there? Anyone care to take a guess? Like I said, I'm trying out some new POVs. What do you think? Like it? Don't like it? Let me know!_

_Review Responses:_

_Bengal – I'm really glad that my stories can inspire so many different emotions inside of you. It's what I aim for really. I want to write characters that people can relate to enough to where they "feel" what the characters are feeling. I hope the story continues to impress you. :-)_

_poynton90 – Haha, yeah well, nothing can ever be easy right? Where would the fun and excitement be in that?_

_the lucky three leaf clover – Hahaha yeah, I don't really know. I think it's because we didn't really get enough of his character in the movies to really turn him into a lasting character, while keeping him true to character. Every story needs casualties, apocalypse stories more so than others ;-)_

_mickelus – Oh don't worry, I'm not writing Janus entirely out of the story, just not for K-Mart. I have someone much better for her. :-) I do tend to leave you all biting your nails, but as stated before, I love the anticipation of waiting to see what's going to transpire in the next installment, so I feel like everybody else should love it too LMAO_

_123a456e – Hahaha, yes yes, just expect it from now on. This story is cut into sections that all end in cliffies. We shall see what is wrong with Alice, and how this new twist comes to fruition._

_Claire x Alice - :-D Yeah well, I have a LOT in store for Sherry. You guys will either love me or hate me by the end of this story, but, being the person I am, I enjoy constructive criticism ;-) so bring it on! As for what she was thinking, I'm pretty sure she was thinking… "damn…that was hot."_

_WolfDragonGod – Thanks!_

_Rainbow Unicorn – As long as I an keep you coming back ;-) I'll never tell, you'll just have to find out!_

_Cookie – Thanks so much! I like to think of myself as an evil genius without the genius part ;-)_

_DalekSec-kmz – Thanks! :-D I love my cliff hangers. I really do. They're so fun to write, and I love seeing the comments about them. LoL Thank you so much for your kind review. I'm glad that you are still enjoying the story and my writing style. _


	15. Chapter 15

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or storyline from Resident Evil. Just the thoughts swirling around my head that Alice and Claire are perfect for each other..._

* * *

Claire's POV

Claire fired up the engine of the osprey. She smiled as it purred to life. It had been a while since she'd been behind the controls of a helicopter. It was probably going to be a rocky flight. She thought about how Chris would be the much better option for a pilot, but she had argued with him until she was red in the face. Someone had to stay behind to lead the survivors should Umbrella launch a second attack in Claire's absence, and she didn't really trust Luther enough to leave him in charge. Carlos and Chris were more than capable of leading the survivors. Plus, there was no way she was putting Alice's life in anyone's hands but her own.

Alice and Jill were with her. That was going to have to be enough. She couldn't risk pulling any more firepower away from the Arcadia. She thought about the last time they had been to an Umbrella facility, shuddering at the memory of the lizard man – the Hunter, as the AI had called it. She hoped they wouldn't be in for a rematch. With Alice infected, she didn't know if the woman would be strong enough to handle another fight like that. No one really knew how much time the woman had before her body started to mutate. Claire couldn't risk it.

* * *

The flight to Alcatraz was long. Not in the sense of time – this baby had a cruising speed of 241 knots – but every second that passed was another closer to her losing Alice for good. It was hard to concentrate on the task at hand with the woman's life depending on her.

She landed the bird – albeit, a bit roughly, but landed all the same – in what must have been the prison yard when the Rock had been operational.

When they entered the prison, Claire looked around. It was just that. A prison. There were no Umbrella symbols. No labs. No people. Nothing. She noticed the one piece of art that hung on the wall. A picture of an open door and a chair leaning back, seemingly of its own accord.

She felt a wave of despair as she thought that the scientist might have lied to them and sent them on a wild goose chase, but Alice stepped forward and placed her hand on the one piece of furniture that wasn't ragged and covered with dust. She pulled the chair back and Claire heard a clicking sound.

The wall behind the three women opened revealing a clean white room. It had Umbrella written all over it.

Inside the room there was only one other door. Alice tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. The screen beside the door suddenly came to life, and an all-too-familiar voice greeted them.

"I was wondering when you would make it here. I've been waiting." Albert Wesker's face appeared on the screen and Claire felt the bile rise in her throat.

"Didn't we kill you?" she growled at the man.

He merely smiled, his calm, calculated smile. It drove the redhead insane with anger. "I'm – resilient." His smile shifted into a smirk. "I think I know why you're here. I'm willing to negotiate, but first, you'll have to help me out with a small problem."

Claire sneered at the man. "Why would we ever help you?"

Wesker's smirked widened. "Because if you want your _partner _to live, you have no other choice."

Claire sighed. Was it that obvious? How many times would her and Alice's relationship be exploited by Umbrella? Still, even with the knowledge that she was most likely playing right into the man's hands, she saw no other way if she wanted to save Alice. "What do you need, Wesker?"

"There's a boy. Right now, he's located in the heart of San Francisco, barricaded in the train station. His name is Jacob Muller. His blood has the antibodies needed to finish the vaccine. So, in other words. If you choose not to comply, or if you fail, Project Alice will be terminated." The blonde man chuckled, before his face became serious again. "Bring me the boy."

"Fine." She turned to leave and could hear Alice and Jill right behind her.

* * *

The flight across the bay was quick, and before she knew it, they were landing on the roof of the train station.

The station was huge and as much as Claire hated admitting to herself, they were going to have to separate. "Look, I hate to say this, but we have to split up. This place is huge, and we don't know how much more time Alice has." She looked at the older woman and noticed a fine webbing starting to form on top of her skin. _A state of chrysalis, _the doctor's words echoed in her head. _More like a cocoon_. "We have to hurry."

Jill nodded. "I'll take the east side." She took off in the direction of the eastern wing of the station.

Alice pulled Clarie in for a quick kiss. "I'll take the lobby. Be careful, Claire."

The redhead nodded. "Thirty minutes and we meet back up here," she yelled after Jill.

The woman sent her a thumbs-up before disappearing through the roof access door.

Claire and Alice ran in the opposite direction of Jill. When they'd made it down the stairs, Alice shot one last longing look in her direction before sprinting off toward the lobby.

Claire pulled her glocks and slowly made her way to the western wing of the station. Bodies littered the hallways, but they were all dead, each one had a nice, precision shot to the forehead. Whoever had been here had been trained well.

She searched the western wing and found nothing. After the thirty minutes were up, she went back to the roof to meet Alice and Jill. Jill was already waiting. "Find anything," she asked the blonde.

Jill shook her head. "Just evidence that someone has been here. Someone good."

Claire nodded. "Yeah, me too."

They waited another ten minutes. Claire was just about to head down to the lobby when Alice burst through the door, a body slumped over her shoulder.

Claire looked at the older woman's hard face. "Is he?"

"He's alive. But Claire, you're not going to like this." She laid the boy down carefully.

Claire gasped. "My God!" The familiar face was a kick to the gut. There was an evil high-tech looking scarab attached to his chest. She ran to his side and grabbed at the device before Alice pulled her away.

"Wait, Claire. I already tried. It's – it's different from the others. It's set in much deeper. I think it's attached directly to his heart." She looked at Claire apologetically. "Wesker didn't want this thing to come off."

Claire glared at the device attached to the boy. "Well we'll just have to _make_ him take it off when we get back then. Come on."

They loaded the boy into the helo and strapped him in. Claire had the thing in the air in record time.

* * *

Once they were back at the Umbrella facility, Alice carried Jacob Muller down to the white room. Wesker's face flickered to life on the screen. "Ah, you found him. Perfect. I'm coming out now," the man said, holding up a small remote in his hand for the women to see. "But if anyone tries anything. This red button will inject a deadly poison from the scarab straight into little Jacob Muller's heart." His eyes narrowed. "And I won't hesitate pushing it."

There was a hissing sound as the door unlocked and opened. Wesker stepped out and into the room. Claire glared at the man. "What have you done to him?" she spat at the blonde man.

"Insurance," the man said calmly. "Lay him on the table."

Alice followed the man's instructions, laying the boy on the table and backing away slowly.

Wesker smirked. "Perfect. Okay. You're free to go now."

Claire balked. "I'm not going anywhere without – hey wait – what about the vaccine for Alice!?"

Wesker rolled his eyes. "When are you going to learn that I'm the _bad guy_?" He laughed an evil laugh as realization spread across Claire's face.

She lunged forward, but Wesker held up the remote. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

She stopped and drilled holes into Wesker with her eyes.

The blonde man rolled his eyes again and then smiled.

"I'll tell you what Ms. Redfield," Wesker whispered so that only Claire could hear. "Since this _creature_ means so much to you, I'm willing to make you a deal. I've just developed a new virus prototype. I was going to give Jacob here the privilege of testing it for me, but if you would be willing to be my first human test subject, then I'll give your _partner_ her vaccine." Wesker smirked at the look on Claire's face. "And the boy can remain human."

A war was going on inside of her. She knew she shouldn't agree to this, but she couldn't just let Alice mutate into something evil…or worse. And there was no way she was letting Wesker inject that thing into Jacob. The answer was really there the whole time. She nodded to the man and accepted the fact that she had just forfeited her own life.

Claire watched as Wesker took a syringe from his pocket. The man drew a vial of Jacob's blood. Carefully he injected the blood into yet another syringe, this one filled half full with a clear substance. He mixed the two thoroughly and stuck the needle into Alice's neck, pushing the mixture into her system.

The boy stirred on the table, his eyes opening and locking onto Claire's. "I'm going to get you out of here. I promise!"

The boy's eyes were confused for a moment, then turned cold. "Who the fuck are you?" He looked around and spotted Wesker. "Mission complete, dad. The sample is in my backpack."

Claire gasped. He didn't even know her. And he had just called Wesker – _dad._

Before she could even move, Wesker had lodged a needle deep into her neck and injected her with the new virus. She gasped as she felt the cold fluid enter her blood.

"We're finished here," Wesker said cooly. He picked up the empty syringe that had contained the new virus. "I'll call this one… the R-Virus. In your honor, of course, Ms. Redfield." He turned to walk to the door leading back into the labs, with the boy's arm still tightly grasped in his hand.

Claire was clutching at her neck and Jill was at her side in an instant. "What did you just do?" the woman asked harshly.

Claire glared at her. "I just saved Alice's life," she growled.

Wesker chuckled from the doorway as the realization of what had just happened crossed Alice's face. "Claire. No!"

The redhead didn't even acknowledge Alice's voice. Instead she turned to Wesker. "Let him go you bastard! Give me back my little brother!"

She charged Wesker but the man held the remote up to her again. "Not another step Ms. Redfield. I gave you your vaccine, just like we had agreed upon. My _son_ will be coming with me."

Claire gasped and the man laughed at the shocked look on her face.

Wesker smirked. "The irony is delicious, I'm sure, but certainly you knew your little brother was adopted."

She did know that, of course. She had been five years old when her parents had brought Jake home. But could it be true? Could Jake really be Wesker's son?

The man must have seen the question in her eyes. "Come now Ms. Redfield, I had to make sure he would be in a family that would keep him safe. That's why I had his mother terminated. That's why I hand picked a family that I knew would take care of him. Had I realized what problems you'd cause me later, I may have reconsidered that choice." His face hardened. "After your parents' accident, you struggled to take care of him. I couldn't let my son waste away, so I sent you a present. In the form of Alice, of course."

Claire gasped and looked at her partner. "You _worked _with him?"

Alice glared at the man, but shook her head. "I worked _for_ him, but he never sent me anywhere, he's lying."

Wesker laughed; the sound was cold and empty. "True, but Spence was my right hand man, and he had no reservations about dragging you out every Friday. I even implanted the idea in his head that he should rile you up with suggestive talk about the redhead so that your natural compassion would take over." He paused. "It was one of my more brilliant plans, if I do say so myself. Worked better than I could have ever imagined."

Claire felt betrayed, but she couldn't be mad at Alice. The older woman had been used, like a pawn in a game of chess.

Wesker stepped toward the door again before turning back. "Oh and Alice, I left you a parting gift in your helicopter. I think you'll enjoy it." He exited the room without another word. Claire watched as Alice ran to the door and tried to open it. It wouldn't budge. She blasted the door. Still nothing. She stepped back as Claire ran to the door.

"Fuck me," Jill whispered.

Claire was beating on the door, screaming at the top of her lungs. "Jake! Jakey! Jake! Wesker! You fucking bastard! I will _end _you! Do you hear me? I will _end_ you!"

Alice grabbed Claire and tossed the redhead over her shoulder. "Let's go. We'll have to search the helo. I'm almost positive his parting gift is going to be a bomb."

Claire was struggling the entire way back to the helo. Alice sat her down and grabbed her shoulders. "Claire. Calm down. We're going to get him back. I promise you."

They searched the outside of the helo and found nothing. But when they opened the cargo door to get in, all three women gasped. Harnessed to the seat, was Angela Ashford. "Angie!" Alice gasped running toward the girl. She was unconscious. "We need to get her back so we can keep her stable. Claire, are you okay to fly this bird?"

Claire nodded. She felt fine, other than the intense guilt that was settling deep in the pit of her stomach. The cool, dizzy sensation had already passed her and she felt – normal. "Yeah. I'm fine. Let's go," she said coldly.

After one last pass around the inside of the helo, they found nothing more. Claire crawled into the cockpit and lifted the bird from the ground.

* * *

K-Mart was the first to meet them on the flight deck. Upon seeing the girl in Alice's arms, the blonde looked as if she was going to fall apart. "Angie," K-Mart gasped. "Oh my God! Is she?"

"She's okay," Alice cut her off before she could finish the sentence. "She's unconscious. I think it's the after effects of a drug Wesker had her on."

K-Mart looked confused. "Wesker? I thought he was dead."

"Apparently, he's a lot harder to kill than we thought.

They took Angie down to the medical ward below and Betty hooked her up to various monitors and IVs.

Claire watched as K-Mart pulled a chair up next to Angie's bed and took the girl's hand in her own. The redhead could see the younger girl falling apart and averted her eyes, feeling as if she were invading on a private moment.

"You okay?" the redhead asked softly.

K-Mart nodded. "I'm going to stay with her, until she wakes up. I don't want her to have to wake up alone."

Claire nodded. "I'll bring you down some dinner later."

She followed Alice from the room and back to their quarters. Before the door had even clicked shut, she was pressed against the older woman, hands grasping desperately at the brunette's hips. She tugged at Alice's black t-shirt attempting to get it off without having to detach their lips. After a few frustrating minutes, she just grabbed the bottom and ripped it open up the front.

The brunette looked down and raised a dark brow. "Really Claire? This was like, my only good – "

Her rant was cut short by the redhead's lips attacking her own again.

Claire was hungry. There was a deep, burning desire that had started the moment she realized that her time was limited. The entire flight back she'd been wired. She wanted to spend as much time as she had left, completely ravishing the woman she had fallen madly in love with. A day. A week. A year. The rest of her _life_ wouldn't be enough time with Alice.

Her fingers slipped down the front of Alice's pants and ghosted across warm, wet flesh. The brunette gasped and rolled her hips forward. "Claire." Her lips trailed across the redhead's cheek and left a trail of fire. "Please… Don't make me wait."

Claire smiled and softly kissed her lover's forehead. "Never…"

She slid two fingers into Alice, pushing them inside of her as far as she could get them at her current angle. The brunette's head fell back against the door and she reached out to unbuckle Claire's belt. "Off…Now."

"You're going to have to do it. I'm not removing these fingers until you're screaming my name."

Alice whimpered and tore at the buckle until she was pushing the dark jeans down around the redhead's hips.

Claire didn't even bother trying to kick her boots off as she stumbled backwards and fell onto the bed.

* * *

_A/N: Damn, did I totally just pull a Star Wars? Okay okay, but it wasn't my fault. It just fit into the story so perfectly. Angie! She's back kids!_

_Review Responses:_

_I'm glad you approve of the drama between Chris and Jill, because trust me, there is going to be a LOT more in the future ;-)_

_mickelus – Haha, yeah. I have the main characters set aside for my POVs. I doubt you'll ever see a POV of Luther or Angel or anyone. I'll try not to confuse you too much by switching it up. As for the crossovers, I'm usually pretty lousy at them. I feel like trying to make the movieverses mesh generally leads to unbelievable/unidentifiable characters and hard-to-write story lines. So a big KUDOS to the people who can actually make that shit work!_

_123a456e – I would LOVE to make everyone lesbians, but I think a few of the guys really wouldn't fit the profile too well ;-) the sad truth is – even in a homoerotic story, there much always be casualties…ahem…I mean….straight people…_

_LazyPup – Well well well. You can just call me Apollo ;-) You flatter me, however, I am just as mortal as you. Flesh and blood. My writing comes from years of practice, and countless pages of EXTREMELY bad stories followed by harsh criticisms that only made me stay up hours into the night writing until my fingers were bleeding in hopes that one day I would achieve the ability to write something that would inspire comments such as the one you just left me. Thank you, kind reader, for helping me achieve my life's goal. :-)_

_WolfDragonGod – Thank you kindly. People will definitely going through a few changes in the near future, but we won't go into any of the details just yet ;-)_

_the lucky three leaf clover – FINALLY some constructive criticism. Don't sugar coat it. I've taken it for years ;-) I was kind of disappointed with how the chapter turned out, but in the end it got the point across. Chaos is the main them for the next few chapters. _

_Rainbow Unicorn – Well I MAY have snuck into your room while you were sleeping and implanted a mind control device with a weekly timer on it, but that may have also been a dream…so…I can't make any promises._

_ShadowCub – In no uncertain terms. Yes. They are. However, all of my viruses are pulled directly from the storylines of the games so you can blame CapCom (not really because I don't want to be sued! Blame me all you want)_

_Alice x Claire – Well, can you really blame her? Who doesn't want Alice? Or Claire for that fact. I want them both…together…with chocolate…and ice cubes… 0.o _

_DalekSec-kmz – I LOVE Jill. I don't write her enough in my opinion, but I'm trying to give her a bigger part in this story. I'm glad you like the history behind the viruses. I've done a lot of research for this story, so hopefully it will continue to impress you :-)_

_binsidebritsmind - :-) While I haven't entirely ruled add continuing on with the crazy love triangle, K-Mart is about to be thrust into her own world of sexuality. Hope you enjoy ;-)_


	16. Chapter 16

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or storyline from Resident Evil. Just the thoughts swirling around my head that Alice and Claire are perfect for each other..._

* * *

K-Mart's POV

K-Mart was the first to spot the helicopter on the horizon. "Carlos!" she yelled. "I see them. They're coming!"

She ran onto the flight deck to watch the helo land. Claire set the bird down smoothly and K-Mart could see the woman's cold expression through the glass of the cockpit. Something must not have gone as planned.

Jill and Claire exited first and the blond was at their sides in an instant. But upon seeing Alice, it felt as if all the air was sucked from her body. The older woman held the body of a lifeless teenager in her arms. "Angie," K-Mart gasped. "Oh my God! Is she?"

"She's okay," Alice cut her off before she could finish the sentence. "She's unconscious. I think it's the after effects of a drug Wesker had her on."

K-Mart's eyebrows pulled together. "Wesker? I thought he was dead."

Alice grimaced, shifting Angie in her arms. "Apparently, he's a lot harder to kill than we thought. She handed Angie to Carlos and turned to Claire. K-Mart could see the woman's worried eyes as she surveyed the convoy leader. K-Mart saw Alice lean in and inhale Claire's scent. The brunette pulled away with a puzzled look. "Are you okay?" she whispered to Claire. The redhead nodded.

"I feel fine, Alice. Let's get Angie down below."

Claire radioed for Betty to meet them in the medical ward, and they took the girl down into the skin of the ship and laid her down on the bed. "Can you hook her up so we can get her vital signs?" Alice asked the woman.

Betty went to work. "Of course. Do you want me to hook up an IV as well?"

Alice nodded. "Any way you can get some calories in her system?"

Betty smiled at the woman's concern. "Sure thing. I'll get her all set up."

K-Mart pulled a chair up to the side of Angie's bed and took the girl's frail hand in her own. "Please wake up Ang," she whispered, clutching the lifeless hand desperately as her eyes filled with tears. She didn't notice all of the eyes turn on her, watching her silently fall apart. She felt Carlos's warm hand on her shoulder. The feeling eased some of her pain, but, her heart was breaking at the sight before her.

Now that Angie was in front of her, all of the emotions she'd kept locked down all of those months ago resurfaced with force. She felt the hot tears swell in her eyes and didn't care that Claire and Alice could hear her quiet sobs. She didn't take her eyes off the girl lying in the bed.

Once Angie was all hooked up, the steady beep of the heart monitor set her nerves slightly at ease. She felt a soft hand on her shoulder and turned to find Claire. "You okay?" the redhead asked softly.

K-Mart wiped the tears from her eyes and sniffled, but she nodded at the woman before turning back to Angie. "I'm going to stay with her, until she wakes up. I don't want her to have to wake up alone."

Claire nodded. "I'll bring you down some dinner later."

K-Mart smiled at the older woman. She loved Claire, but her emotions for the convoy leader had changed over the course of time. It had begun months ago, while they were still in the desert, the first time she realized that Alice and Claire were meant to be together. She had forced herself to withdraw from the two older women then, letting them sort out their emotions for each other.

* * *

She must have dosed off in the chair, because she felt a hand shaking her awake. Claire set down a plate in front of her. Her eyes widened at the sight of grilled chicken and mashed potatoes.

Claire beamed down at her. "We found the reefer decks full of frozen meats and vegetables." Then she pulled out a buttered roll and set in on K-Mart's plate. "And bread." She winked at the girl. K-Mart's stomach growled audibly and she felt her mouth water at the smell of the food.

She grinned up at Claire. "This. Is. Awesome." Claire smiled and pulled up a chair beside her.

"How's she doing?"

K-Mart looked back at the sleeping girl and smiled sadly. "About the same." Then her eyebrows drew together. "But earlier she was stirring a bit. Her eyes were moving, like she was dreaming about something. That's a good sign right?" She looked at Claire pleadingly.

The redhead smiled. "Yes. It's a very good sign. It means her brain is still functioning."

K-Mart smiled, relieved. "Good."

Claire sat with her a while before getting up to leave. "You sure you don't want to spend the night in a bed?"

The blonde shook her head. "I don't want to leave her. I want to be here when she wakes up."

Claire nodded. "Okay. I'll come check on you in the morning then." She ruffled K-Mart's hair gently, earning a scowl from the younger woman.

Claire took her plate and left quietly. K-Mart scooted her chair up to the bed again and leaned forward to rest her head against the mattress. She could feel herself sinking into sleep again.

_She was running. Not just running. She was sprinting. For her life. Something was after her. She felt the ache in her legs. An ache that was familiar yet so strange at the same time. She turned to look behind her and saw nothing, but she kept running. _

_Suddenly, something was grabbing her from behind. Black gloved hands were on her holding her down. Masked faces appeared in her sight as they restrained her. _

_She struggled with all of her might, but it was no use. The hands held her down to the bed and strapped her arms and legs down. She screamed again and again, but no one came to her rescue. _

_A woman in a white lab coat appeared before her with a syringe. "All right. That will be enough from you guys. I'll take it from here." _

_The masked faces nodded at the woman. "Yes ma'am," the front man replied._

_The woman turned to her again. "Shhh, I'm not going to hurt you. Let's see if we can make the pain go away for good hmm?" _

_She watched as the woman stuck the needle into her arm and injected the liquid into her. Poison? The virus? The antivirus? She didn't know. She was terrified. "W-what is that?" she asked, voice trembling. It wasn't her voice._

_The woman smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. It was a cold smile, and it made her even more afraid. "This," the woman said. "Is a very special serum. It's going to make you all better."_

* * *

K-Mart startled awake. She looked around desperately before realizing she was still in the medical ward with Angie. She searched her brain for the nightmare she had just woken from. Her hand grasped at Angie's desperately. She clutched at the girl, before giving up all semblance of strength and crawling up in the bed with her, burrowing into the girl's side. She cried hot tears of frustration. Where had that nightmare come from? She had never been in an Umbrella facility before, aside from the one in Nevada, but no one had experimented on her there. She was sure that it had just been some crazy scene that her overwhelmed brain had conjured, but it had felt so _real_.

She nuzzled into Angie's neck, the steady pulse of the girl's blood against her face easing some of her fear. She curled her arm around Angie's waist and pulled her as closely as she could. "Don't leave me. Please don't leave me."

_I'm not going anywhere Dahlia._

She jerked her face away, eyes darting to Angie's calm face. The girl was still asleep. She shook her head, acknowledging the fact that she was going crazy.

_You're not going crazy. I promise._

K-Mart's eyes went wide. "You – you can hear me?" she whispered before she realized that she hadn't actually said the crazy bit out loud.

Angie's laughter filled her mind. It warmed her chest and she clutched the girl tighter into her.

_You don't have to talk. I can hear your thoughts._

K-Mart gasped. _I'm totally crazy. I've lost my mind completely. God they're going to have to put me in a padded room._

Angie laughed in her mind again.

_I told you, you're not going crazy. _The voice in her head paused. _I've missed you terribly._

K-Mart let out a sharp exhale. It was almost a laugh, but not quite. "I missed you too, Ang." Her face scrunched up. "How can I hear you?"

_I'm not entirely sure. While I was in the Umbrella facility, they – they experimented on me. They gave me this serum that they said would make me all better._

K-Mart immediately recalled the nightmare. It hadn't been hers at all. She had been sharing Angie's nightmare through the telepathic link she now shared with the girl. "This is too weird."

_I know it's a lot to take in, but – I'm glad it's you here with me. Where are we?_

K-Mart grinned. "We're on board a ship called the Arcadia. Safe."

_How did I get here?_

"Claire, Jill, and Alice rescued you from the Umbrella facility on Alcatraz. You're – asleep. I've been waiting for you to wake up."

_You mean I'm in a coma._ Angie's internal voice was as sarcastic as K-Mart remembered. She laughed a little bitterly at the realization.

"Yes. I guess that would be closer to the truth." She tentatively reached out and took Angie's hand. "Can you – feel that? Can you feel me?"

_I can._

K-Mart grinned, grasping Angie's hand more firmly. "I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried about you. I thought – I thought you were…"

_I'm fine now. You're here._

K-Mart smiled and lifted Angie's hand to her face, pressing her lips against the soft back of the girl's hand. "I'm never leaving your side again." She paused, kissing Angie's hand again. "What did they do to you? How can I hear your thoughts?"

_The serum they injected me with was an old virus. The doctor called it the progenitor virus. Apparently, it was found in Africa attached to the roots of a plant called the Stairway to the Sun. It's the original virus. But they – they modified it._

K-Mart jerked away involuntarily. "They infected you?"

_Yes._ Came the simple reply.

The blonde was freaked. Was Angie going to slowly turn into one of those things? Or worse, would she become like Wesker? She grabbed the radio that Claire had left on the bedside table and pushed the talk button. "Alice," she said as calmly as she could manage.

"What is it K-Mart?" Alice's reply was short and clipped, almost as if she could sense K-Mart's distress.

"Could you come down to the medical ward for a moment. I – I need to ask you something."

"Be right there."

K-Mart set the radio back on the bedside table and waited for the older woman.

When Alice showed up, K-Mart was relieved to see that the woman was alone. She crawled out of the bed and brought Alice over to Angie's side. She wasn't ready for anyone else to find out about the weird link going on between her and Angie yet. She knew Alice was good with the unexplainable. "What's going on K?"

K-Mart looked at the older woman. "This is going to sound – strange. But I can – I can hear Angie's thoughts in my head." She turned back to the sleeping girl. "Show her Ang."

K-Mart watched as Alice's eyes went wide.

"See?"

Alice nodded. "How?"

"She was just getting to that part. She said that they infected her with a new – er – old – well different strain of the virus while she was at the Umbrella facility. Something called the progenitor virus. Have you ever heard of it?"

Alice nodded her head. "It was the original strain of the virus. The progenitor virus is what created the T-virus. And everything else…"

K-Mart squeezed Angie's hand. "Can you tell us more?"

_I can tell you everything the doctor told me as she was injecting me. The virus came from the plant originally. Found in Africa. It had bonded to the plant's roots and was allowed to share DNA. The serum they injected me with, was derived from that virus, but they altered it before injecting me. They merged the virus's DNA with the RNA from a species of beetle found in the jungle of Madagascar. Apparently, these beetles are known for their ability to communicate telepathically and regenerate broken body parts. To offset the virus's take over of my body, however, they also fused the virus with Alice's blood._

K-Mart gasped and looked at Alice.

The older woman looked at her imploringly. "What did she say?"

K-Mart scrunched her eyebrows together. "You couldn't hear her?"

Alice shook her head.

"She said the virus they infected her with was merged with the DNA from some mind reading bug. And that they mixed it with your blood to keep it from taking over her body."

Alice's eyes widened. "Does she know why she's not waking up?"

K-Mart looked back at Angie, squeezing her hand gently.

_Wesker injected me with something else before I blacked out entirely. When I became aware of myself again, I was here._

"Wesker."

Alice nodded. "I think I know someone who can help her." Her face darkened a bit before she smiled ruefully at the girl. "Care to make another trip to Nevada?"

K-Mart winced. She had no desire to go back to the creepy Umbrella facility outside of Las Vegas. The hologram inside was too knowing and pushy, and she _really_ didn't want to run into anymore of those lizard guys. But she would do anything to get Angie back. She nodded at the older woman. "If that's what it takes."

_Can you sit with me for a while? They'll need to prepare, but I don't want to be alone._

"Of course," she spoke out loud gaining the attention of the other woman. "She wants me to stay with her while you prepare."

Alice nodded. "Alright K. I'll come find you when we've sorted out all of the details."

K-Mart smiled as Alice left the room. She crawled back onto the bed and wrapped her arm around Angie's waist. After a few minutes, she slipped her hand under the fabric of Angie's shirt and rested it against the girl's warm stomach.

_Dahlia? You know I can feel that right?_

K-Mart smiled. "I was kind of hoping you could." Her thumb made gentle circles against Angie's soft skin. "I missed you."

_I missed you too. A lot. I thought about you every day. That kiss. I know you were just showing me how it was supposed to feel, but it made my lips tingle. I thought about that a lot._

K-Mart grinned into the skin of Angie's neck. "I could teach you _other_ things too. If you wanted."

She heard Angie's laughter in her mind. _Oh sure, make me promises when you know I can't do anything about it when you renege. _

K-Mart chuckled. "What makes you think I'd renege?" Then her brow furrowed. "What does that even mean anyway? You know I don't speak British."

Angie laughed again. _It's not British. It's English. You do speak English, don't you?_

"Barely."

_It means to back out of something you've promised someone._

"Hey! I would never break my promises to you!" K-Mart argued.

_Hmmm, well then teach me, oh wise Yoda._

K-Mart chuckled. "Well not while you're _here_. That would be weird."

_See? I told you that you'd renege. What if I never wake up?_

"You're going to wake up," she continued to argue.

_But what if I don't? You don't want me to miss out do you?_

K-Mart thought long and hard about that. She didn't want Angie to miss out. She still clearly remembered the feeling of Claire's lips and hands on her body. She wanted to make Angie feel all of the things that she'd felt.

_Oh. My. God. You had _sex_ with Claire?_

K-Mart balked. "Hey! Get out of my head!"

Angie's internal voice was hesitant this time. _I can't. I'm afraid if I break the link I won't be able to get it back. But don't change the subject! I can't believe you had sex with Claire!_

"I love Claire. And I was – lonely – and hormonal!"

Angie laughed again. _You're still hormonal. Can you remember it in detail? I always wondered what it would be like._

Flashes of her night with Claire crossed through her mind. Claire dancing for her. Her fingers sliding into Claire's slick center. Claire's tongue against her clit.

_Oh God._

"Hey! You did that on purpose! Stop making me remember things!" K-Mart hissed at the girl.

_Make me,_ was the only reply she received. K-Mart grinned. Her hand slipped upward on Angie's stomach until she was cupping the girl's breast. Her fingers toyed with the girl's nipple until it hardened under her attention. She leaned down to press hot kisses against Angie's stomach, dragging the fabric of her shirt up until her lips closed over Angie's small nipple.

_Oh. God. Dahlia. That feels…_

K-Mart pulled away. "Angie…this feels too weird. I can't do this. Not while you're – not here."

_Please, Dahlia. I need to feel this right now. I need to feel like somebody loves me. I've been so alone in that lab for so long. There was no one…_

K-Mart sighed. "I do love you. I always did. Even when you were gone. Even when I was with Claire. I've always loved you."

_Then show me. Be my Prince Charming. Wake me up from this Hell._

K-Mart could feel her resolve slipping away. She sighed again, and then leaned forward to capture Angie's other nipple. Her hand crept downward until it was sliding beneath the waistband of Angie's panties and into wet heat.

* * *

_A/N: Okay. So I know I'm going to get a few flames on this one…but fuck it. It felt right at the time._

_PrincessLia – Angie is indeed going to be K-Mart's new girl. We just gotta get that kid woken up first!...Or not…_

_the lucky three leaf clover – Haha, don't feel dumb, this part is SUPPOSED to be confusing. It's purposes written as such, I promise. It will all make sense soon. :-)_

_123a456e – Thanks! I'll try to keep up with the normal pace. Grad school is kicking my ass though LoL_

_kellzbellz – It is certainly possible that there will be Jake/Sherry. And yes, I have definitely increased Angie's age a bit. She's not still 14 I promise._

_Rainbow Unicorn – Hehehehe, I'm very good at what I do. I also took your kidney._

_WolfDragonGod – That's the point ;-)_

_mickelus – The chapter is purposely rushed and disorganized to get you into the same mindset as the characters. I like for my readers to be right there with them. If you felt like you were drinking from a fire hose, then my job is done. LoL As for the security risk, and not thinking that is something that they would do, some of the major characters in the movies have done the very same thing. People do crazy things when put in between a rock in a hard place, but, it will make sense before the end of the story. I promise. Not everyone is in their right mind after all._

_Claire x Alice – Hahaa, yes yes everyone is having a bit of fun. ;-)_

_Cookie – Oh yes…I'm really planning on doing it. Whether you love it, or you hate it. I'm writing it anyway, cause that's how I roll. The flames feed me just as much as the praise ;-) But thanks for enjoying _

_steffcomley – Haha, well, had you not commented I would have completely forgotten to update this week. I'm on vacation. So everyone can thank you for this week's update ;-)_


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